This is a Chilean endemic Amaryllidaceae, native to the Atacama Desert.
The colour range goes from pale yellow, bright yel...Read Morelow, gold-yellow to almost reddish.
Grown from seeds, they will take 3 to 4 years to bloom. Adult bulbs have a diameter of 5 to 7cm (2 to 2 3/4") diameter.
Rhodophiala bagnoldi is adecuate for xeriscaping, since it only needs a bit of water every 2 weeks when leaves and blooms are present. No water at all during their die back period.
They require lots of full sun and (like most Chilean native plants) very good drainage in a nutrient rich soil.
Propagation from seeds: sow outdoors during Autumn in a12cm (5") deep tray in a barely moist mix of equal parts of compost and sharp river sand, that has been covered with a thin layer of sharp river sand. Place the seeds and cover them with just enough sharp river sand to keep them in place. Once the seedlings emerge, remove very carefully the black part of the seed that will be on their tip. This, because birds can take them for worms/baby snakes and pull them out. Do not transplant them before the bulbs are one year old.
As any other Amaryllidaceae, this one can be also propagated from scaling, micropropagation, etc.
The flowers last longer at the plant than in a vase.
This is a Chilean endemic Amaryllidaceae, native to the Atacama Desert.
The colour range goes from pale yellow, bright yel...Read More