How to Grow and Care for Blood Lilies

Scadoxus multiflorus

In the event you’re an enormous fan of the puffy, globe-shaped blooms of decorative alliums, then say hiya to their crimson-blooming cousin: the blood lily.

The title “blood lily” may sound sarcastically hardcore for a flower, however for the reason that fiery-hot hues of Scadoxus multiflorus blooms are blood-like, it’s truly a fairly correct title.

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This crimson shade pairs properly with the sunshine inexperienced hue of the leaves.

Mix these pleasant colours with the hanging floral form, and also you’ve obtained a extremely superior plant in your fingers. However methods to develop it?

With data, that’s how… and this information has all of the know-how it’s good to start your plant parentage, from propagation to cultivation. 

Right here’s what we’ll be speaking about:

What Are Blood Lilies?

Previously categorized as Haemanthus multiflorus, Scadoxus multiflorus is a bulbous perennial from the Amaryllidaceae, or amaryllis, household which incorporates snowdrops, daffodils, and amaryllis flowers.

Hardy in USDA Zones 9 to 11, the blood lily traces its origins to tropical Africa, components of South Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula. Although it has “lily” within the title, S. multiflorus isn’t a true lily plant of the Lilium genus. 

Let’s begin with the bloom clusters: Crimson, spherical, and 4 to 6 inches in diameter, the flower heads are literally composed of many particular person blooms borne on one to 2 inches of succulent stem, every with six pinkish-red petals and 6 yellow-tipped purple stamens.

Blooming in summer season, these flowers persist for as much as two weeks. If pollinators do their factor, then orange to purple berries will observe in fall.

The flowers and fruits don’t develop on precise stems, however relatively pseudostems consisting of overlapping leaf sheaths that connect with a rhizomatous bulb.

From every red-streaked bulb grows six to seven brilliant inexperienced, lance-shaped leaves, every 12 to fifteen inches lengthy.

As a complete, every plant grows one to 2 ft tall and 9 to 18 inches large.

The bulbs include poisonous alkaloids, and shouldn’t be dealt with with out gloves or consumed. This “no consuming” rule goes to your pets and livestock, too!

There are three subspecies of S. multiflorus: multiflorus, katharinae, and longitubus.

The multiflorus subspecies is normal – therefore the redundant title – whereas the katharinae subspecies has barely bigger dimensions and flowers. The longitubus subspecies has barely elongated floral tubes, however it’s not generally seen in cultivation.

Cultivation and Historical past

The blood lily is greater than only a fairly face – it has many sensible functions.

Gambian farmers plant it as a good-luck juju for safeguarding their crops from thieves, Nigerian farmers mark the boundaries of their plots with it, and it’s used for poison fishing in each Guinea and Nigeria.

In lots of components of Africa, S. multiflorus has a wide range of medicinal makes use of. The crushed bulb is used to deal with severe wounds and friction burns, whereas the dried bulb promotes lactation when rubbed on breast scarifications.

Blood lily ointment is used for ulcers, a decoction constituted of the crushed bulb is taken internally to deal with hookworm, and the sap treats earache when utilized immediately into the ear canal.

I’m actually not saying these things doesn’t work, however I am saying that you simply in all probability shouldn’t attempt any of it at dwelling, because the plant is technically poisonous to each people and animals.

Take into account this a surgeon common warning to proceed with warning… regardless that I’m neither a surgeon nor a common.

Blood Lily Propagation

To propagate blood lilies, you might have 4 choices: you possibly can develop from seed, divide offsets, plant bulbs, or transplant a potted specimen.

From Seed

For seed sowing, you’ll want entry to a specimen that has yielded fruit. Alternatively, you possibly can snag some seeds from associates or a good vendor.

In the event you go the DIY harvesting route, wait till the orange to purple berries both drop from the plant or are crinkled and ripe sufficient to fall on the slightest contact.

Whereas sporting gloves, take the berries, mash them up, and take away the seeds inside. Then, rinse the seeds in a strainer to take away all of the pulp.

Fill a seed tray with a 50:50 mixture of peat moss and perlite, and scatter the seeds on the floor of the rising media.

Gently press them into the media with out burying them, then moisten with a sprig bottle. Be certain the tray is uncovered to brilliant, oblique mild.

Maintain the media moist because the seeds germinate. When new development is noticed which may take a number of months, you possibly can transplant them out within the backyard or into particular person containers.

It might probably take as much as 5 years for a plant began from seed to bloom, so persistence is vital.

From Offsets

Blood lilies develop naturally by producing offsets from the mom bulb. Eradicating and replanting these each three to 5 years each manages a specimen’s dimension and offers you with extra vegetation!

However first, it’s essential to let your offsets develop for a rising season or two earlier than anticipating any flowers, since they in all probability gained’t be giant and developed sufficient to flower their first yr.

In early spring, rigorously carry your goal plant, take away soil from across the bulb, and take away the offsets from the central bulb, both through the use of a sterilized blade or your gloved fingers.

Return the mom bulb to its dwelling, then plant every offset into its personal container or patch of backyard soil. Plant every offset bulb in order that its “neck” is on the soil line, and water within the media round it.

Maintain them well-watered as they turn out to be established which ought to take a number of weeks to a few months.

From Bulbs/Transplanting

Whether or not you buy new bulbs or are setting out ones you’ve lifted and saved over the winter months, planting bulbs is easy.

In the event you’re planting out in your panorama, be sure that your supposed websites are in full solar or half shade and have fertile, well-draining soil, with a pH of 5.5 to six.5.

Potted bulbs ought to go in well-draining, but moisture-retaining medium – a fair mixture of peat moss and perlite is ideal.

Guarantee your chosen container has drainage holes within the backside and is one or two inches bigger than the bulb. You don’t desire a container that’s too giant as the additional potting medium can retain an excessive amount of moisture and trigger rot.

In spring, when all threat of frost has handed, plant every bulb an inch deep, apex up and basal plate down, spacing them 9 to 18 inches aside.

Water within the soil across the bulbs, and hold it evenly moist because the bulbs develop and develop foliage.

In the event you’re transplanting a potted plant, dig a gap the identical dimension because the container the plant is at present rising in, gently take away it from the pot, and set it within the gap. Backfill with soil and water in properly.

Simply be additional cautious once you deal with the foundation techniques, as they don’t like being disturbed.

Develop Blood Lilies

Acquired some blood lilies planted? Let’s discuss methods to hold them wholesome and glad.

Local weather and Publicity Wants

If you wish to go away your bulbs in-ground year-round, you then’ll must be in USDA Zones 9 to 11.

They can be grown in cooler climates, however they’ll must be positioned in containers that may be introduced indoors earlier than temperatures dip beneath 45°F. Any colder, and the foliage will flip brown and begin to die again.

Select a location in full solar to partial shade. The best spot would have full solar within the morning adopted by some shade within the afternoon.

Shiny, oblique mild is greatest for vegetation which are grown indoors.

Soil Wants

The best soil for blood lilies is organically-rich, fertile, and well-draining, with a pH of 5.5 to six.5.

In case your backyard has significantly sandy soil, amend with compost or well-rotted manure to enhance water retention. Clay soils can profit from the addition of pea gravel in addition to compost to enhance drainage and add natural matter.

In spring, high gown with compost or well-rotted manure and punctiliously dig it into the soil round your blood lilies so as to add natural matter and vitamins.

Water and Fertilizer Wants

For optimum development, keep even moisture all through the rising season. To do that, water at any time when the floor of the soil dries out.

Cease any supplemental irrigation when the foliage dies again in fall.

Pruning and Upkeep

Blood lily blooms final for as much as two weeks, so in case you’re searching for lower flowers, that’s your window.

Be sure you lower the flower stem diagonally so it will probably nonetheless take up water whereas touching the underside of the vase.

In the event you don’t wish to gather the seeds seeds, lower the flower stems right down to the bottom when the blooms have pale.

When the leaves die, be happy to chop these to the bottom as properly to tidy up the backyard. Take away any diseased or broken plant tissue you occur to note.

In Zone 9, in-ground bulbs profit from a layer of mulch to assist them survive the winter chilly.

In cooler climates, the bulbs will must be lifted and saved in case you don’t wish to plant new ones subsequent spring.

When the foliage dies again in fall, carry the bulbs someday earlier than the primary frost, as soon as temperatures begin to commonly keep beneath 45°F.

Lower the shoot and root tissue from the bulbs, and lay them out on newspaper for one to 2 weeks in a brightly lit indoor area to allow them to dry.

After they’re dry, put the bulbs in paper baggage or in a cardboard field with air flow holes, pack them with peat moss, and retailer them in a darkish, dry place saved at 50 to 60°F till spring.

The place to Purchase

To buy blood lily bulbs, you can test along with your native plant retailers, bulb catalogs, or favourite on-line distributors.

You possibly can barter for one at a plant swap, or maybe snag one from a horticultural present.

In case your fellow inexperienced thumbs have some bulbs or seeds to trade for a few of your individual, then make with the commerce!

Blood Lily Bulb

Yow will discover bulbs on-line obtainable from Hirt’s Gardens through Walmart.

Managing Pests and Illness

Fortunately, S. multiflorus doesn’t actually undergo from severe pests and ailments, and it’s even proof against damaging herbivores corresponding to deer, rabbits, and rodents.

However you’re not out of the woods but. To maintain your blood lilies fully freed from well being points, you’ll want to arrange for these potential issues.

Slugs and Snails

Whether or not they’re shell-less slugs or shell-wearing snails, these mollusks are actual slimy, and actual annoying. 

With their uniquely-textured tongues, they eat leaf tissue such as you or I file down our nails, which leaves uneven, but easy feeding holes in foliage. Consequently, photosynthesis is hindered and the plant’s well being is harmed.

Since these guys take shelter from the solar beneath the shade, it helps to take away any nonessential spots the place they’ll disguise: weeds, plant detritus, stones, and so on.

In the event you discover slug and snail harm, you possibly can exit at night time with a flashlight to select them off infested vegetation and crush or in any other case get rid of them.

Slug and Snail Traps

You may also catch them passively with some slug and snail traps like these plastic inexperienced beer traps, offered in units of three at Gardener’s Provide.       

Our information to managing slugs and snails may be discovered right here.

Bulb Rot

Consider it or not, roots truly have to breathe somewhat – and when the soil across the root system is waterlogged, the roots don’t get the oxygen they want.

Consequently, the foundation system and the bulb can flip necrotic and die, which hinders water and nutrient uptake for the remainder of the plant, inflicting the foliage to show brown and die again.

To stop bulb rot in blood lilies, it’s important to plant in well-draining soil and to keep away from overwatering throughout the rising season. It’s additionally essential to cease watering throughout dormancy.

In the event you’re rising your blood lily in a container, be sure that it has enough drainage holes.

And if bulb rot takes maintain, you possibly can attempt digging up the plant and shifting it to a extra appropriate location or potting it up in well-draining potting combine. But when it doesn’t get better, you’ll should pitch the rotted bulb.

Finest Makes use of for Blood Lilies

A brilliant purple ball of blooms can play many roles in a backyard, it’s fairly sufficient to be the star of the present, whereas it will probably additionally help different specimens as an accent planting.

Put it in a container, and the blood lily is beautiful on a patio or as an indoor houseplant. And don’t neglect its energy as a lower flower!