Gloriosa Lily

I had blooms on this lily for months. The bloom is unique in shape and changes color as it ages.

Out of the fifteen tubers only one grew, however it died before blooming. Quite expensive.

A friend of mine as these in her garden and I have always loved their delicate beauty. Once they start blooming, one has to check them twice a day, the flowers disappear so fast! I love them anyway. I used them in a grouping in my front yard, They kind of got lost with all the other flowers. I think next time I will plant them more toward the edge, though still in a group, so that it will be easier for me to catch them when they bloom!

This flower went to the fair and took best of show.
A real head turner, still showing great after 3 days of being cut, it looks even better.

Most people have never seen these so I got some really nice comments. Flowers are just as they are pictured on the web site. Takes a while to start growing, but once they get going...its off to the races.

The flowers start out looking like they won't get to be red...as the flower itself "ages" you will find the yellow portion turns red and you have a full red flame. This photo shows the oldest of the flowers (the one that bloomed 1st) with the yellow lower portion starting to turn red.

I bought the tubers and placed them in big pots with inverted tomato cages for them to climb on. They grow beautifully and love to climb up towards the light. The flowers look like flames and it brightens the spot in which they are placed.

Used in a container up against a link fence, the blooms are stunning! Only wish they could be BIGGER, the blooms that is.

MY Gloriosa Lily are doing really well this year, got lots of beautiful flowers. I attached some photos so you can see how gorgeous they are.

I just love this flower from the first time I came across its picture online, with vivid color and all the petals going upwards, it looks like a small bunch of dancing flame, no wander it was called fire lily also. When see the description 15-20cm bulb, I was expecting something like a giant onion. When got my package I was quite surprised to find some bulbs more carrot than onion. 

Those "carrots" grow very rapidly, send out long shoots, it is very cute to see they actually use the tip of leaves to grab the trellis, and oh, the flower, once they begin to bloom, it will make your neighbor wondering what are those exotic looking flowers.

Some things to look out:
1. During the second year, it sends out very long (more than 12 inch) shoots in nearby places, before the leaves appear, I couldn't tell what are they and pulled out some.
2. It didn't branching much, so don't expect it will cover the whole trellis
3. It is very brittle, try to avoid touch them, they will break!
Overall, I highly recommend glorisa lily to fellow gardeners, something definitely worth trying.