Nerine Bowden

Family Amaryllidaceae. Native range - mountainous regions of South Africa. It is encountered rather rarely in indoor cultivation. Another name "nymph's flower".

Nerine is an ornamental flowering bulbous houseplant. The unusual shape of nerine flowers is very striking and highly valued, on a par with orchids. Leaves: 45-55 cm long, dark green, glossy, strap-shaped. Flowers: up to 13 cm long, arranged in a raceme, lily-like with narrow reflexed or slightly twisted tepals; 6-12 flowers per inflorescence - an umbel; scapes reach up to 6 cm in length. The bulb is bottle-shaped and produces many offsets.

Used as cut flowers. In water they last 2-3 weeks.

Period of ornamental display: from late summer to autumn. The plant has a dormant period (in winter).

Propagation: Requires a sunny location, regular watering from spring to autumn, sharply reduced after flowering.

Fertilizer recommended: liquid fertilizer from the appearance of the first leaves until mid-winter. Propagated by bulbs in summer in May, after the dormancy period, planting them down to the neck. Plants flower in the third year. When propagated by seeds, flowering occurs significantly later.

Soil: soil mix of leaf mold, turf soil, humus, peat, sand (1:1:1:1:1).