Isemenes Festalis--an easy summer bloomer
Hymeonocallis/Isemenes Bulbs (known as Peruvian Daffodils) have beautiful clusters of starry white spidery flowers that bloom in summer! The variety I have grown is X festalis which is commonly available. They are hardy zones 8 and higher, and while I managed to overwinter them outdoors in the ground here in zone 7B, they never bloomed for me…
One year, I potted some of them up in a 12″ pot for a patio display and they have never failed to bloom! Every summer, right about now, the flowers begin to open. I usually bring them in while blooming to enjoy the display which lasts about two weeks.
Unless you have a really sunny southern exposure its best to grow these on a balcony or patio. Give them lots of water while actively growing, in fact boggy conditions will suit them fine. In fall, I allow the leaves to die down and then throw the pot into my basement storage room until late spring when I bring them out again. Once new growth emerges I start watering. I throw on some timed-release fertilizer(for flowering plants) every spring, and occasionally top-dress the pot with fresh potting mix. That’s all there is too it. The plants only bloom once a year, but have attractive foliage.
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