Two Haemanthus to prosper with.
are the easiest garden subjects to flower and pollinate with.
Haemanthus albiflos bulbs are typical of Haemanthus species, having fleshy thick whitish matted roots; it shares notoriety with Haemanthus deformis in being one of only two evergreen species within Haemanthus. The bulbs are always ovoid.
There are a lot of named and unnamed intermediates from crosses between these two Haemanthus, indicating for the average reader, an ease when it comes to producing our own crosses.
Here is Haemanthus King Alfred flowered by Robert H. in Southern Tasmania.
One of the reasons for so many different forms (perhaps) is best explained by the fact that Haemanthus albiflos is a very variable plant.
After flowers fade protect your seed heads as much as you can from adverse weather.
An upturned plastic pot overnight if you know a downpour is coming works really well.
Propagation is by seed and by separation of offsets from thick clumps. Seeds are sown once the ripe berries have become soft and turned a bright orange or red colour from the end of winter to early summer, depending on the particular form being cultivated.
Remove the hard oval-shaped seeds from the berries, wash them in water to remove the sticky pulpy layer surrounding them, and allow to dry for a couple of days. This is important, so they don't go mushy in your first attempts at growing your own seeds. Sow the seeds evenly in deep seed trays or in larger trough, in a medium of equal parts of finely milled bark or finely sifted compost, as well as coarse river sand and loam, ensuring that they are covered with a very thin layer of about 3-4 mm of sowing medium. Alternatively, I find, it easy to plant them into a slightly raised bed en situ for the first two years. But then, as regular readers know, we hate pots. And now we do not have the room for them. It is always best to know ones limitations. And for this writer, the least work it the best course steered. Even though, initially, it may require a little more effort to plant them in the open garden, for me at least, this effort pays off. Water well with a fine rose and place the trays in a shaded position protected from heavy rain, and keep moist by watering well once every two weeks. Germination can take several months, so be patient.
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