Blue sensation
With its striking, scythe-like leaves and eye-catching, lilac-blue blooms, this unusual Latin American hippeastrum demands your full attention, writes NOEL BURDETTE
Regular hippeastrum cultivars, with their large, voluptuous blooms that appear in spring, are a familiar sight, but their cousin, the blue hippeastrum (Worsleya procera syn W. rayneri), is less well known. Often sought after by avid plant collectors, this beautiful hippy is a native of Brazil, and in its homeland can be found clinging to porous rock crevices on steep slopes beside waterfalls, where it is constantly blanketed in their fine mist.
This plant, also known as the Empress of Brazil, features beautifully arched and attractive blue-grey leaves that all face in the same direction. In summer, the vivid lilac-blue, trumpet-shaped flowers bloom in handsome umbels that sit above a crown of foliage, to produce a unique and eye-catching display.
Unlike the more common cultivars, the blue hippeastrum never enters a period of dormancy, and it continues to grow throughout the year. When it’s mature, it can have a thick trunk up to 1.5m tall.
Blue hippeastrums are best grown in containers, as this allows you to manage their specific growing conditions. Potting mix should have a sharp, gritty consistency. Make your own by combining equal parts of compost, pea gravel and washed river sand. Where possible, add a few handfuls of crushed pumice to give their fleshy root systems something to adhere to. Add a slow-release fertiliser to provide nutrients.
Hippeastrums will grow in full sun, but are happiest where they get bright, filtered light all day, such as in a shadehouse or under a tree with an open canopy. They prefer moderate temperatures, so find a cool spot when temperatures go above 32˚C, and when winters are cold, place them in a glasshouse to help maintain temperatures above 5˚C. With the right care, they can be grown in warm, coastal areas, right up to Far North Queensland.
Water regularly during warm weather (twice a week), but ease off in winter months to once or twice a fortnight.
Allow the mix to become a little dry in between watering, and move the pot under cover during wet weather to avoid any chance of the bulb rotting. Protect plants from the dreaded crinum caterpillar during spring and summer by spraying with Dipel or spinosad, so that you don’t suffer the heartache of losing this incredibly beautiful plant.