Plant Library

Other Names:  Peruvian Lily

Description:

This standout variety presents stunning coppery-orange and golden yellow blooms with fine burgundy spots; mounded, dark bronze-green foliage adds interest; blooms last very well as cut flowers

Ornamental Features

Indian Summer™ Alstroemeria features showy bracted orange trumpet-shaped flowers with yellow overtones and burgundy spots at the ends of the stems from early summer to early fall, which emerge from distinctive crimson flower buds. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its attractive pointy leaves remain grayish green in color with showy coppery-bronze variegation and tinges of black throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Indian Summer™ Alstroemeria is an herbaceous perennial with a mounded form. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and usually looks its best without pruning, although it will tolerate pruning. It is a good choice for attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Indian Summer™ Alstroemeria is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Indian Summer™ Alstroemeria will grow to be about 24 inches tall at maturity extending to 4 feet tall with the flowers, with a spread of 5 feet. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 4 feet apart. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 5 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. To help this plant achive its best flowering performance, periodically apply a flower-boosting fertilizer from early spring through into the active growing season. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Indian Summer™ Alstroemeria is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.