How to Grow Sprekelia in Australia

Jacobean lily (Sprekelia formosissima) is a summer-growing bulb in the amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae) from Mexico. It is grown for a single scarlet flower on each stem, shaped more like an orchid than a lily. Some botanists now place it in Zephyranthes, but bulbs are still sold as Sprekelia. It is happiest in warm, frost-free gardens and in pots. The usual mistake is leaving the resting bulb in cold, wet soil over winter.

Three mistakes that matter

1. Wet soil while dormant. In its home range the bulb rests through a dry winter, and soggy soil rots it or stops it flowering. Plant in free-draining soil or a pot, and stop watering once the leaves die back.
2. Digging and dividing too often. The bulb resents disturbance and can skip flowering for several years after it is lifted or split. Choose a permanent spot and let clumps crowd, lifting only when they stop flowering well.
3. A cold, shady spot. Shade and cold soil give leaves with few or no flowers, and hard frost injures the bulb. Give it full sun against a warm wall, or grow it in a pot that moves under cover for winter.

When to plant

Plant dormant bulbs in spring, once the soil has warmed and the danger of frost has passed. Flowers usually follow several weeks after planting, from late spring into summer. Bulbs return each year, so this is a one-off planting rather than a crop to repeat.

Where spring warms slowly, plant late rather than early, because a bulb sitting in cold, wet soil is the one most likely to rot.

Site, soil and setup

Each bulb makes a small clump of strap-shaped leaves up to about 50 cm long, with flower stems usually 15 to 35 cm tall. That suits the front of a sunny bed, a rock garden or a pot.

A perennial bulb stays put, so crop rotation does not apply. See soil pH explained before liming, because a soil test tells you whether lime is needed at all.

Jacobean lily and the state weed lists

No state or territory declares Jacobean lily a weed.

Seed usually sets only when pollen comes from a different plant, and new plants mostly arise as offsets beside the parent. Put unwanted bulbs in the general waste bin, and ask your local council about any plant near bushland.

Container growing

Pots suit Jacobean lily well, because they keep the bulb dry in winter and can move out of frost. Allow one bulb to a pot about 15 cm across, roughly 1.5 L. For three bulbs set 10 cm apart, use a pot at least 25 cm across, about 7 L. Fill with premium potting mix in a pot with drainage holes, and set each bulb with its neck just above the mix.

• Position. Full sun outdoors from spring to autumn, at least four hours of direct sun if kept indoors.
• Watering. Water when the top few centimetres of mix are dry, from the first shoots until the leaves begin to die back.
• Feeding. Give liquid potash at the label rate every fortnight from the first buds until the last flower fades, and nothing while dormant.
• Winter. Keep the resting pot dry, as Three mistakes that matter explains, under the eaves or in a frost-free shed.
• Repotting. Leave bulbs undisturbed for three to four years, then divide and repot while dormant.

Planting Bulbs

Jacobean lilies start from dormant bulbs, planted neck up into warm spring soil.

Planting in the ground

• Choose firm bulbs, up to about 5 cm across, and bin any that are soft or mouldy.
• Set each bulb pointed neck up, with the neck at or just above the soil surface.
• Space bulbs 20 to 30 cm apart, in groups of three or more for a fuller show.
• Water in once, then keep the soil only just moist until shoots appear.
• Mark the spot, because shoots can be slow to appear in cool soil.

Care by growth stage

Two things decide flowering: steady water while the plant is in leaf, and a dry, frost-free rest in winter. The leaves feed next year's flower bud, so let them die down on their own.

Count the weeks from planting day, and expect each stage later in cool districts. If growth is weak in poor soil, a light dose of all-purpose controlled release granular (NPK around 14-5-10) scratched in at planting can help.

Where frosts are hard or winters wet, lift the bulbs after the leaves wither. Dust off the soil and store them in dry peat or vermiculite somewhere frost-free, about 5 to 13°C, until spring.

Companion planting

The best neighbours are low, sun-loving plants that want little water in winter, so one routine suits the whole bed.

Grows well with

• Portulaca, which carpets hot, dry ground at the front without shading the bulbs.
• Pineapple lily (Eucomis), another summer bulb that wants water in growth and a dry winter rest.
• Low succulents in a rock garden, which ask for the same sharp drainage.

Keep apart

• Daffodils, hippeastrums and nerines showing red-brown leaf scorch, because the same fungus infects Jacobean lily.
• Thirsty winter annuals and lawn edges, whose winter watering keeps the dormant bulbs wet.
• Dense groundcovers and tall perennials that shade the leaves.

Harvesting Blooms

Each flower lasts only a few days, so most gardeners enjoy it on the plant and cut a stem only for a short vase display.

• Cut a stem near the base as the bud splits and shows red.
• Cut only the flower stem and never the leaves, for the reason given in Care by growth stage.
• Snap off spent stems unless you want seed, so the bulb puts no energy into pods.

A bulb can send up more than one stem in a season, one after another, so a clump can flower for several weeks.

Common problems

Leaves but no flowers. Recent lifting or dividing, shade and small bulbs are the usual causes, and even healthy bulbs do not flower every year.

Bulbs rotting. Cold, waterlogged soil during the winter rest is the cause, as described in Three mistakes that matter. Read more

Leaves flopping over. The leaves grow upright at first and then lie down as they lengthen, which is normal rather than a sign of thirst.

Scorched or collapsed leaves after a cold snap. Frost below about minus 4°C injures the plant, so mulch bulbs in the ground or move pots under cover.

Pests and diseases

Few pests trouble Jacobean lily, but these are the ones to watch for in Australian gardens.

Mealybugs (family Pseudococcidae). White, waxy, sap-sucking insects hide in the crevices where the leaves emerge from the bulb, leaving sticky honeydew and sooty mould. Dab small colonies with a cotton bud dipped in methylated spirits, or spray horticultural oil in cool weather. Read more

Leaf scorch (Didymella curtisii). This fungus turns leaf tips red-brown and spreads red spots down leaves and flower stems, mostly in wet weather. Pick off affected tips as soon as they appear, and put badly affected plants in the general waste bin rather than the compost.

Common garden snail (Cornu aspersum) and slugs. They rasp holes in new leaves as they emerge, feeding mostly at night and sheltering among strappy plants by day. Go out with a torch in the first two hours after sunset and drop them into soapy water. Read more

Prevention first

• Plant only firm, clean bulbs into free-draining soil.
• Check the leaf bases for mealybugs as new leaves emerge each spring.
• Water the soil rather than the leaves, which keeps leaf scorch in check.
• Clear away dead leaves in autumn, because good garden hygiene leaves pests and fungus fewer places to hide.

Tips

1. Separate the small offset bulbs from a crowded clump while it is dormant and replant parent and offsets straight away.
2. To raise plants from seed, cross two different plants and sow the flat black seed fresh. Keep seedlings growing without a winter rest for two years. Expect up to seven years to flowering.
3. A terracotta pot dries out faster than plastic after rain, which helps in districts with wet winters.
4. Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria has grown Jacobean lily in a garden bed in Melbourne. A warm, sheltered spot can carry it through a southern winter.

Due to quarantine restrictions and our shipping policy, we cannot send Jacobean lily bulbs to Western Australia or Tasmania.