Cyrtanthus elatus

I really can't spare the time or space for very many tender plants, but here's one hell of an exceptional specimen that's virtually idiot proof. Cyrtanthus elatus can be potted into a 6" pot and left there for years. In the first year of growth, multiple new bulbs will be formed kinda "piggyback" on the main bulb. When these new bulbs put on a little weight, the pot becomes full and you are blessed with multiple blooms of huge, soft red, Amaryllis like flowers. I've seen them flower at random times throughout the year, but always a reliable May bloomer in this hemisphere. After flowering, go ahead and pull a handful of bulbs off and pot them up. You'll have an endless supply of gifts for your friends. Even when it is not in flower, the dark green, supple foliage is attractive. The name Cyrtanthus comes from the Greek Kyrtos, meaning curved and anthos, flower. This is a reference to the flower head that bends downward from the top of the stalk. The clone that I'm growing came from Alan Armitage at the University of Georgia at Athens. It's a superior strain to the ones found in commerce that have been imported from Holland. The Dutch bulbs tend to be shy about flowering. There are over 50 species in the genus Cyrtanthus, many other species also have merits as houseplants.

An evergreen, South African bulb, excellent as a cut flower or pot subject to be brought indoors at flowering time. Stout stems bear large, open, trumpet shaped flowers of a unique, gently glowing scarlet, sporadically throughout the warmer months, above quickly clumping, strappy, leathery leaves. Happy with short periods of dryness but better with regular water to imitate its natural habitat of stream sides and moist slopes. Good drainage is of course essential as is a little shelter from scorching summer sun, though too much shade will affect flowering.

All of these came from Warren Stoutmeyer but the labeling was a bit on the cryptic side, I suspect this is a separate clone from the above.