Alstroemeria
Jane McGary (Fri, 02 Jun 2006 11:44:26 PDT)

The most vigorous Alstroemeria in my garden is one I grew from seed
collected at a fairly low elevation in hills near Chile's Valle Central. I
think it's A. ligtu subsp. incarnata. It's very large and produces masses
of flowers most of the summer. Fortunately I have it confined to a huge
sand and gravel berm, where I also grow some other alstros, tulips, and the
western North American genus Hastingsia, punctuated by whatever wildflowers
happen to seed in, such as lupines, foxgloves, Gilia capitata, Solidago,
and California poppy. And weeds, of course. (Reading John Ingram's posting,
I'm motivated to include Zauschneria [current name Epilobium canum] in the
mix; it could rampage at will, and it would flower after the alstros so the
colors wouldn't clash.) This alstro happily survives winter temperatures
below 20 F, though the emerging foliage can be damaged a bit, and stocks
the house with cut flowers all on its own. Seeds like mad, too, but mostly
into the gravel path, which I spray with Round-up. The flowers are warm
pink with yellow, very large, and as many as 25 per inflorescence. The
habit is lax, so it would not please a cutflower breeder.

I also have A. aurea in the garden, but it behaves itself, perhaps because
my plants stem from near the northern limit of its distribution, where the
plants tend to be smaller than those in the forests of Patagonia.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA