take care of your garden
Today’s column, after our recent review of succulent plants in South Africa, features geophytes in South Africa, another large class of plants in this botanical hot spot.
For a review, geophytes are perennial plants with an underground food storage organ, for example, a bulb, tuber, corm or rhizome. Succulentists do not consider geophytes to be succulents because succulents store moisture while geophytes store food.
An exceptional book, “The Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs” (Timber Press, 2002) lists 83 genera of these plants, which include about 1,200 species, three-quarters of which are endemic to southern Africa.
This column features a small sample of these plants that grow in my garden, as examples of large and diverse geophytes in South Africa.
We include two arbitrary groups of these plants: my sense of the most common and least common varieties. You may group them differently.
As a key note, many of these plants include “Lily” in their common names but are actually not members of the Lily plant (Liliaceae) family. These misnomers can be based on their resemblance to the familiar shape of real lilies.
Familiar geophysites in South Africa
African lily (Agapanthus praecox ssp orientalis Getty White’). This South African plant is a member of the amaryllis plant family. Its common names include Lily of the Nile, although it is not native to the Nile River region. The genus includes seven species, including the familiar A. africanus with reddish-purple flowers, and the less common A. praecox, which is shown here. The foliage grows from rhizomes up to 2 feet high and 4 feet wide; The flower stalks in summer rise to 4 feet in height. These plants are easy to grow in sun or shade and are often seen in private gardens and public spaces.
Monpritia (crocosmia “Lucifer”). This plant is considered a widespread plant among more than 400 hybrid varieties. They develop from small worms, and in summer, genera produce glowing red flowers. Their young monkeys are easily detachable, making them easy to breed and potentially invasive, even though they have an attractive appearance. They are members of the iris plant family.
Fortnight Lily (Dietes iridioides). Another member of the iris family, this plant grows from rhizomes to form 2-4-foot-high clumps of narrow, sword-shaped, stiff evergreen leaves, and many distinct white flowers in yellow and purple. The flowers appear over a long season in two-week intervals (hence the common name), but only last for a day.
Flowering grass (Freesia laxa var alba). Known for its strong sweet scent, this creamy white flowering hybrid is very popular in gardens. Other varieties are available in a range of colors, whether mixed or monochromatic. Easily grown from corms, it grows up to 18 inches in height, and in spring produces 2-inch tubes of flowers.
Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia ‘Pineapple Popsicle’). Although there are more than 73 species of this genus, almost all plants grown in residential gardens are hybrids of two or more species. They grow from rhizomes and form clumps of narrow, grass-like leaves ranging from dwarfs 18 inches to 6 feet. giants. They produce long spikes of brightly colored straight flowers in shades of red, orange or yellow, and are often bicolored. Members of the lily plant family, they have a long blooming season, most beginning in summer. They grow in full sun or partial shade, depending on the variety, but they all require moderate moisture.
Calla (Zantedeschia aethiopica). Sometimes called “Calla Lily”, it is a member of the Arum (Araceae) plant family. Growing from rhizomes, they can reach 3 feet in height, and need year-round moisture to produce their attractive white bracts (or spaces) that surround true little flowers. Hybrid varieties are available in a wide range of ball colors.
Less familiar with geophytes in South Africa
Blue mace (Aristea capitata). This plant, a member of the iris plant family, grows from rhizomes to form linear leaves in 3-foot-high clumps. Tall and broad, with longer stems than true blue flowers with yellow stamens. The most common cultivar, A. ecklonii ‘Blue Stars’, is very similar.
Snake flower (Bulbine Frutescens). This plant has bulb-shaped tubers (not really bulbs), from which two feet grow. Clumps of succulent leaves and in the spring 2-3 spikes of small yellow flowers. They are members of the Asphodelaceae plant family and are related to Haworthias and Aloes. They grow easily and can be propagated easily from stem cuttings. I’ve got a bunch of cuttings from a recent garden exchange, and I need to put them in the ground.
Bush lily (Clivia miniata). Another member of the amaryllis family. These plants have been very popular in California since shortly after they arrived in England from South Africa. griownb C. miniata common has orange-red or yellowish flowers and (rarely) almost white flowers and are natural mutations. They have attractive dark green strap-shaped leaves. Numerous cultivars and hybrids have been produced by different combinations of the four species of the genus.
Natal lily (Crinum moorei). Another member of the amaryllis plant family, Natal Lily develops bulbs that can be 8 inches in diameter, flowering stems up to 4 feet high, and clusters of five to 10 flowers that are large, open, white to pale pink. In nature, it grows in wet swampy areas, but it thrives with minimal watering in my garden. A recent online interview with Jenks Farmer, author of “Crinum: Unearthing the History and Cultivation of the World’s Big Bulb,” described this plant as a garden favorite in the southeastern United States, but it also grows well in the Monterey Bay area.
Blood lily/Painter’s lily (Haemanthus coccineus). There are 22 species within this genus, which is a member of the amaryllis plant family. H. coccineus, among the earliest identified species, has blood-red flowers, hence the common name; Many other species have white flowers. The plant has paintbrush-shaped flowers, which appear in late summer, followed by strikingly attractive broad leaves.
Guernsey lily (Narine sarnensis). Another member of the amaryllis plant family, the Guernsey lily is a summer dormant species, grows in winter and develops funnel-shaped clusters of flowers with frequent petals, in colors ranging from crimson to crimson, and from pale pink to deep pink. There is also an attractive pure white finish. The plant has bands of linear, belt-shaped leaves that follow the flowers.
advance your knowledge
The Wave Hill Public Park and Cultural Center, located in the Bronx, New York, has announced a new webinar series, beginning with “New Aesthetics for Public Spaces,” at 3 p.m. PT January 19. The presenter will be garden designer and landscape architect Ching-Fang Chen, who has been described as “passionate about deepening the connections between people and the environment.” In her presentation, she will “share how cultural and environmental values are incorporated into design to deliver a more significant expression of beauty.” For more information and to register for this fee-based event, browse to https://www.wavehill.org/calendar and go to the webinar address.
Enrich your gardening days
Explore the botanical riches of South Africa, particularly the succulent plants shown in a recent column and the geophyte plants sampled in today’s column. As already noted, some South African geophytes are widely grown in California gardens, but other less common species offer unusual attractive shapes and a welcome change compared to the daily garden nursery offering. It is well suited to the growing conditions of the Monterey Bay area, so it will not require exceptional cultivation skills.
Enjoy your garden and do some exploring!
Tom Carwin is the past president of Friends of the University of California at Santa Cruz Arboretum, the Monterey Bay Area Cactus and Succulents Association, the Monterey Bay Iris Association, and a Lifetime UCSD Principal Gardener (certified 1999-2009). He is now a board member and park coach for the Santa Cruz Hostel Society. To see daily photos from his garden https://www.facebook.com/ongardeningcom-566511763375123/. For garden training information and an archive of past columns on gardening, visit http://ongarening.com. Contact him for comments or questions at tom@karwin.com.