I’m particularly fond of orange flowers and flowers with tubular or bell-like form, so the Dobo lily, Cyrtanthus brachyscyphus…well, how could anyone not like this little bulb?
C. brachyscyphus is from South Africa, and its native range in the Eastern Cape and southern KwaZulu-Natal is bracketed by Port Elizabeth and Durban. In nature, it is primarily a summer grower but may be evergreen if winters are mild [1]. In my greenhouse, it seems to prefer growing in the cooler late winter and early spring months–fresh new grass-like leaves are produced as soon as the days start getting longer in January, and it generally goes semi-dormant during the heat of summer. This year, it has been flowering since early February, and new inflorescences are still appearing. In common with other Cyrtanthus species, it seems to flower best when bulbs are crowded together in a pot, but overall it is much easier to grow and bloom than many of its congeners. Although I grow it in my greenhouse, I suspect it would do equally well on a sunny windowsill.
Reference
1. Duncan, G., Jeppe, B., and Voight, L. (2016) The Amaryllidaceae of Southern Africa, Umdaus Press, Pretoria, South Africa.
I’m also fond of orange flowers, as well as apricot, yellow and all shades in between.
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Cyrtanthus sp do well on a sunny windowsill. I have them growing in my house, I’m in zone 2ish central Alberta. They don’t bloom reliably for me but when they do bloom they are very welcome. I’m very fond of orange flowers as well.
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It looks like an orange alternative to Amaryllis belladonna, or an orange nerine. That is appealing to those of us who dislike bright pink.
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Significantly smaller than Amaryllis belladonna, though.
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Yes, more like nerine. I grew that old fashioned common bright pink nerine as a cut flower crop while in school. It was popular back then. I was none too keen on that bright pink color. They looked like diminutive Amaryllis belladonna. I am none too keen on that either, but it happens to do very well here, and naturalizes without becoming invasive.
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