The hippeastrum is to the warm climate gardener what the tulip is to the cool climate gardener: a sudden bolt of viscerally intense colour.
In fact, hippies out-tulip the tulip, with bigger flowers and more of them per bulb. And where the tulip is native to the freezing mountainsides of central Turkey, the hippeastrum developed in the balmier climate of Brazil, and is consequently a much hardier choice for Sydney gardeners.
If a jolt of over-the-top floral therapy is just what you need, order hippeastrum bulbs now, from growers such as Red Earth, Tesselaar and Garden Express. Get them into pots or ground immediately to have flowers in about six weeks.
Choose from deep reds, pinks, white and green, with either solid colour, striped, splashed or fringed single flowers or doubles. Also check out the South-African-bred Sonatini hippeastrums, which are shorter growing and produce more flowering stems with more flowers on each stem.
CREDIT the Source: If you need a jolt of over-the-top floral therapy, plant some ‘hippies’