Alstroemeria Non-hardy Hybrid
Jane McGary (Fri, 09 May 2008 02:30:03 PDT)

I think Jim Shields is referring to one of the "Princess Strain" hybrid
alstroemerias that are now widely available in garden centers. They are
suitable for containers and I have an attractive one in my solarium. It is
evergreen and has a long flowering period. Judging from the succulent,
shiny foliage, it is closely descended from A. pelegrina, which is coastal
and probably quite tender. I tried four other selections outdoors, and one
of them barely survived a winter here but the others died.

At 10:36 AM 5/8/2008 -0400, you wrote:

Hi all,

We bought some small potted plants for the deck a year ago. Included was a
small Alstroemeria hybrid that turned out to be evergreen. It seems that
there are some hybrids on the market now that will stay green and perhaps
even flowering all year round. This is almost a dwarf, less than a foot (30
cm) tall as I recall.

I moved the planter into the greenhouse in autumn and let it go completely
dry, expecting to have to nurse it through a dormant period. The
Alstroemeria alone continued to stay green and tried to grow. Finally, I
dug it out, divided it into 4 pieces, and replanted it into the container.
I started watering it almost immediately, and it is growing and flowering
again.