 Growing
Gardens
with Anita Morton
Hip hip hooray!
 Aren't
we lucky to live in a climate that lets us grow Hippeastrum? They are among the
showiest of flowers - a bed of them in full bloom is a beautiful sight - and yet
they are amazingly tough plants.
If you would like to fill the garden with these flowers, the cheapest and easiest
way is to grow them from seed. The common Hippeastrum varieties are hybrids developed
by the Dutch for the flower trade. They cross-bred some of the 70 different species,
which are native to Central and South America, to get our modern, large-flowered
plants. Since that is the case, no Hippeastrum will come true from seed, but the
offspring will all be attractive, so what do we care?
Let the seed-capsules ripen until they start to split naturally, then clip
them and put them in a paper bag to dry out and shed the seeds. Plant fresh seed
- it will germinate quickly in the heat of summer. Pot up the seedlings once they
are large enough to handle and grow them on for a year or two. Plant them out
with the neck of the bulb at ground level, not below. Give them a spot with full
sun or light shade, and they will power away, flowering in their third season.
If you can give them soil rich in organic matter, so much the better, but they
will survive and bloom in quite terrible conditions. Once they are established,
they don't need any extra watering, as our natural pattern of dry winters and
wet summers suits them perfectly. Told you they were tough!
Hippeastrum are members of the Amaryllis family, which also contains many other
really good bulbs for our climate. Crinum, Hymenocallis (spider flower), Lycoris
(golden spider lily) and Clivea, Sprekelia (Jacobean lily) are all great garden
plants and all cousins of the mighty Hippeastrum.
Lismore Garden Club News
The Lismore Garden Club social outing for September is a morning tea next Monday,
September 26, at Ron and Nita Burns' home at 53 Kruseana Ave, Goonellabah, from
9.30am. Phone 6624 7422. Please bring a plate.
The AGM is on Thursday, October 6, at the Lismore Workers Club from 1.30pm.
Finally: "If you would have a lovely garden, you should live a lovely
life." - Shaker saying.
Happy gardening
Ron Burns
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