Alstroemeria philippiana on wiki
Diane Whitehead (Mon, 10 May 2004 13:27:00 PDT)

I have just added a picture of Alstroemeria philippiana to the wiki:
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…

I sowed 114 seeds of F & W 10575 last December in my warm dining
room, and they surprised me by germinating in nine days. They grew
fast, sending long shoots along the window sill. They are each over
a metre long, and one has a single flower at the very end, 19 weeks
from germination, 20 weeks from sowing.

Only a quarter to a third of the seeds seem to have germinated. The
whole lot are in a single pot. I moved them up to bigger pots a
couple of times, expecting to separate them after they went dormant,
but I never expected such speedy growth.

This is a desert plant, primed to grow fast as soon as it gets rained
on, which is a rare occurrence in its home - Atacama/Coquimbo area,
Coastal Semi-Mediterranean Desert Zone.

A lot of its leaves are drying. I wonder what it will do after
ripening its seed. On the desert, would it die back, leaving its
rhizomes waiting years for the next rainfall? Or does it act
essentially as an annual?

--
Diane Whitehead Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
maritime zone 8
cool mediterranean climate (dry summer, rainy winter - 68 cm annually)
sandy soil