Alstroemeria

**This is all interesting because I've grown Alstroemeria in my last
garden (Central Coast of CA), and we brought some with us on our move
North, and so we grow them here now (North CA Coast).
They grow like weeds here (and there). I have the common hybrid kinds
one finds in garden centers, and I have the low ones which aren't as
hardy as the tall ones, and I have A. psitticina in both solid green
leafed and the variegated leafed forms. The solid green leafed one is
more hearty.
The tall ones get lanky, but they grow in both sun and shade here,
and I don't fertilize them particularly. Mostly I ignore them.
Occasionally a gopher or mole will run though a clump, but usually
some roots survive. (Now watch a Alstroemeria-loving rodent get all
of mine.) The soil in our last garden was adobe clay on top of hard
pan. Here we also have clay, with rocks below.
The lower growing Alstroemerias are bothered by slugs and snails, but
they flower in the ground and in half barrels.
I love them all because you can pick the flowers and they last for
weeks. And they don't seem to be bothered by frost. We had days of
27F in March, which is late for us, and they didn't seem to be
affected. The stems die down, and if I'm in the mood I pull the stem
off after flowering, as recommended (rather than cut the stems down).
If I don't have time, the leaves and stems die down and leave a good
mulch for the clumps.
I brought up some mixed in the pots of roses when we moved, and I
planted everything and occasionally a clump of Alstroemeria will show
up. When I try to dig them, they're too deep and too close to the
rose, so I succeed in massacring them; sometimes they show up again
and sometimes they don't.
It's hard to get pieces to share because one has to make sure a
little piece of the growing point is included. I've had friends dig
up plain old roots to share, thinking they'll grow plants, They don't.

I'll try to add some photos of mine later tonight or tomorrow on the
hybrid page. Mine are unnamed.
Pretty things.

On the topic of Alstroemeria, I've planted out a number of ones that Roy
Sachs gave me in my garden. They come back and spread, but do not bloom so
this may be worse than having them die in a cold climate. I believe we
discussed this on another forum and if I remember the conclusion was they
needed better soil (or fertilization) than they can get in my garden. I
have one exception and that is one that resurrected from some tubers I
tossed and thought I had disposed of. In this one spot of my garden for a
number of years now I have a lot of blooms for months and months. They are
also spreading too much in this spot, but the flowers are so pretty I hate
to disturb them.

Mary Sue

Dear Mary Sue;
I do not even vaguely pretend any knowledge about growing
these things, but I have found this cultivation guide thought
provoking... even if I don't follow it to the word.
http://roskam-youngplants.com/Alstroemeria_Cultiva…

--
susan hayek, North Coast of CA, USA, zone 9b, Sunset zone 17.
15 miles south of Eureka, CA, overlooking the Eel River, with a peek
of the ocean.