Doryanthes
Jane McGary (Sat, 11 Sep 2004 09:39:34 PDT)

Regarding Doryanthes excelsa, the Giant Gymea "lily" from Australia, I grew
this plant about 15 years ago from "leftover" NARGS exchange seed, simply
because I had no idea what it was and wanted to find out. My two seedlings
still reside in the conservatory, in pots so large I can barely drag them
much less repot them. One has bloomed several times, but the other never
has; the flowering one gets more heat and sun. The nonflowering one,
however, has more attractive foliage, indeed rather like a dark green,
glossy yucca. They suffer occasionally from scale, controlled with an oil
spray. I thought the flowers, which are dark red, were rather small for the
scale of the plant. If it were not for the danger of transporting the
scale, I'd cart them off to California and plant them outdoors. They are
very drought and heat resistant (they have to be, since I can't move them
outdoors with the smaller house plants in summer). They'd be a good
"architectural" plant in warm gardens.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA