African Blood Lily (Scadoxus)

Scadoxus, (skuh-DOX-us) blooms before the leaves are formed. I was lucky on my first attempt to grow it in a squat 12-inch Azalea pot, having overplanted them with Oxalis (shamrock) bulbs. After several weeks, when the Oxalis‘Iron Cross’ had all but covered the pot, up popped the weirdest, but coolest plant in my garden. The chubby green stalk reached only eight inches before it formed a bud that gradually unfurled into an electric coral, softball-sized globe.

You can bet I wanted to repeat it the following year. Unfortunately, the bulbs rotted when I tried to store them for winter. But the following year, I found a leafy plant labeled Scadoxus and watched for a flower to form. It turns out, the bulb has to be of a certain age before it is mature enough to bloom. If you see a pot with a label that says Scadoxus, make sure it holds the husky stalk that tells you it will bloom this season.

I will be sure to make another attempt at overwintering any Scadoxus I plan

Good to know: You can find Scadoxus under the name Haemanthus.

Gloriosa (not really a lily)

It’s not in the lily family, but Gloriosa is referred to as Gloriosa lily, or flame lily. This tropical tuber is in the same family as autumn crocus. All parts of Gloriosa are poisonous. Even so, people in Asia and Africa use its seeds, tubers and roots in traditional medicine. Be careful when handling the plant. Its exotic flowers are reason enough to try it in your garden. Another plant that prefers a very warm environment, Gloriosa is a vining plant with shiny, bright green leaves that wear tendrils at their tips. The vine looks better with some type of support for the tendrils to cling to. I used a wire frame inserted into a large planter on wheels, bringing the complex floral show up to the eye for close inspection.

Gloriosa is quick to bloom. From planting in late April, mine started blooming in early July. Its flowers dangled from thin stems, their swept-back petals heading in the opposite direction from its stamens. When the weather got cold, I cut back its growth and wheeled the entire pot into our unheated mudroom off the garage, unprotected from blasts of cold every time the door was opened. Surprisingly, it came back and bloomed again the following year.

Good to know: Gloriosa is the national flower of Zimbabwe.