Friday 21 October 2016

Hooray for Hippies!

A row of beautiful, bold and bright red buds have burst into bloom in our garden. They are simply stunning!

 A red row in the morning sunlight.

 A cluster of buds.

 Hippeastrum blooms up close.

Similar to those in Selina's garden, but with streaks of white upon their deep red petals, they are the flowers of the gorgeous Hippeastrum lily (or Hippies, for short). The bulbs which give rise to these amazing flowers were given to me by my sweet mother-in-law, coming from her garden to mine. What a gift! 

I planted my row of bulbs just out from the verandah above, in a position where they receive full morning sunlight and afternoon shade. The soil they are planted in is deep but not overly rich. They don't get a lot of water there, just whatever they soak up from the rain and the odd watering when I'm refilling the birdbath.

Hippies only flower for a few short weeks, but the opening of their striking red blooms is much anticipated every year. Hooray for Hippies!

Meg

p.s. If you'd like to see some of the different Hippeastrum blooms or grow some Hippies in your garden, this link has some helpful information. 



 


10 comments:

  1. They are lovely aren't they Meg? I had one lone Hippie in my garden so I bought another one recently. It cost $22.

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    1. They are so lovely, Sherri but, yikes, buying them can be expensive! My mother-in-law has also given me some beautiful Day Lilies over the years. Buds are just forming on those and the most recent ones have been planted in the garden under my rotunda. They are doing much better than the vincas (periwinkles) I planted there a while ago and which never even looked like thriving! There's joy and savings in gifted plants! Meg:)

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  2. I love these it is just a shame they appear only once a year.

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    1. I'd love it if they bloomed more often too but I think only flowering once a year makes me really notice them when do. They have such a bright, stunning flowers. Meg

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  3. I have a row of them in my back garden as well. They are lovely.

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    1. I think they look lovely planted all in a row too, Suzie. Such stunning flowers! Meg:)

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  4. Meg, as a wanna-be hippie in the 70's, at first glance I thought you were writing about that kind of hippie.! I've seen a few blog posts in the past week that feature these joyful blooms. They are definitely going onto my garden wish list.

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    1. Hi, Sally. When I chose the title for this post I wondered if it might cause some confusion. (Couldn't resist though!) Hippies are such gorgeous lilies but bulbs/plants can be expensive to buy. If you knew someone who was dividing their hippies, that would be the best way to go about getting some for your own garden. Meg:)

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  5. Oh the happy hippy!

    I love these flowers and mine are in full bloom at the moment. I have even brought a bunch inside. I do not have many of the red, but have the variegated red and white. They tend to have a bigger flower, or they do in my garden.

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