Find the best Alstroemeria Plants Online

Alstroemeria or Peruvian lily has long exchanged its Andean roots for the more colourful petals, speckled throats and longevity that make it a staple of Australian horticulture. With decent hydration in Darwin’s humid build-up through to the crisp winters of Tassy, these colourful delights provide months of happy colour with the bare minimum of fuss. And now, with demand for alstroemeria buy online Australia erupting, it seems an instinctual change in how many gardeners are shopping has been accelerated by the pandemic: forgoing the search through crowded weekend markets for the page or two of plants in an online catalogue, where trusted digital businesses present their wares with the cultivars displayed with ease of comparison, delivered to the front door as healthy tubers, ready to plant into pots or beds.

That’s where Alstroemeria Plants for Sale is going to be right at home balconies are compact cottage plots will be rambling courtyard oases will be curated. The subterranean rhizomes weave themselves deep into the soil and curl their bodies up in storage during dormancy only to repel into breathtaking bursts of red, pink, orange, yellow or white. The most textural and nuanced single-colour plantings still feel as if they are highly nuanced and textured because of the subtle striping and freckles that every bloom carries. However over the last10 years Australian breeders have developed varieties that suit our climate, producing hybrids that are tolerant of both high UV and the occasional frost. Whether in need of an easy-care border, a bouquet of blooms to cut each week, or some colour seller to keep the spirits high by the letterbox, Alstroemeria is there for you.

Botanical Background: Tough yet Elegant

Alstroemerias look so fragile with their slender stems, but hidden underneath is toughness bred from a high-altitude ancestor. These develop into meaty underground rhizomes that have a battery-like function, hoarding nutrient reserves through winter then powering boisterous growth throughout spring. The leaves have an interesting trait called “twist” where they twist to keep the top surface facing the sun to maximize photosynthesis, independent of how the stem is oriented. This hardiness ensures that gardeners throughout the entire continent can grow them—but only if they have good drainage, and a sun exposure for at least six hours a day, full or part sun.

The growth habit of alstroemeria, vertical stems that take up little real estate — growing space is precious in small suburban plots — topped by heavy bouquets of flowers soaring above the surrounding companion foliage, is a definite plus. The flowers are highly regarded by florists, as they can last up to two weeks in water before withering, and cutting stems encourages the rhizome to produce new stems, making harvesting more of a benefit than a trauma. While many ornamentals require relentless dead-heading, alstroemeria buy online Australia nearly asks for neglect; tug an ageing stem out at the base and the plant will respond with fresh spirit. These traits have led to a resurgence in new plant nerds cultivating house plants and vegetables in the same scale. Patio growers plant younger rhizomes into lovely pots, admiring their buds indoors during inclement weather, then moving them outside for summer displays — the best of both worlds.

The climate fit: from the tropics to Tasmania

Alstroemeria is an ornamental that copes surprisingly well, given the extent of climatic diversity faced across Australia with most ornamentals. Growers in the dry interior of Western Australia bury drip irrigation lines beneath mulch to imitate the slow snowmelt of the Andes. For example, they build raised beds to keep the roots from getting waterlogged when the summer downpours hit coastal Queensland and cover up rhizomes with straw to protect them during the odd frost down there. While the indoor and outdoor plants is accustomed to a climate of 10 °C to 25 °C, conditions often easily realized in spring and autumn on the mainland. During hot spells, afternoon shade or shade cloth canopy keeps foliage fresh and blooms lush and glowing. As Alstroemeria seasonally re-grows from the soil, even untimely cold rarely causes lasting damage, Well-practiced at surviving, its perseverance is perfect for city microclimates where the heat-drenched concrete and brick reflect extreme solar intensity during the day yet release warmth post-sundown. Dwarf selections that stop at 40 cm appeal to apartment dwellers, while country estates make room for heroic clumps of over a meter. Each of these places makes an equitable case for ordering through a nursery, as reputable suppliers offer advice specific to a cultivar and a postcode, so newcomers to the game don’t unwittingly order a cold-tender tropical strain for a mountain retreat or the opposite.