Bulbine
Mary Sue Ittner (Sun, 09 Jun 2013 08:03:43 PDT)

Hi Jim,

There are Bulbine species from tropical and southern Africa and
species in Australia too. Although there are some that qualify as
"bulbs", many are perennials. It looks like the ones you saw are a
form of Bulbine frutescens which is a perennial. I have a couple of
these smaller orange ones in my garden in bloom at the moment. I
don't really notice them until they bloom and they haven't spread at
all. And in my garden they are not in bloom a very long time in
spite of the claims for being long blooming. I also have some of the
species in my garden. It has yellow flowers and is a very robust
plant someone gave me a piece of when I admired it. She just ripped
out a hunk. It is tough, long blooming and expands. Every now and
then I'll reduce the area where it grows. When Cameron McMaster
visited, he remarked on the medicinal qualities of this plant. Here's
an interesting link from SANBI about the species that includes how it
can be used:
http://plantzafrica.com/plantab/bulbinefrut.htm/

Mary Sue