How To Grow…Vireyas

Vireya Rhododendrons are not difficult to grow, especially in the more temperate areas of New Zealand where they may be freely grown outside in garden beds.  For cooler parts of the country they may be kept in pots and moved to a more protected spot indoors over winter.  They do not like frost or extended periods of very cold weather.

Growing Mediums – In their natural environment they are epiphytic, growing in the crooks and branches of trees, or if growing on the ground they cling to the cracks and crevices of slopes and banks.  They do not like their roots to be deeply covered in thick soil, instead preferring a light, free-draining mixture.  We plant our outdoor plants into ordinary bark mulch and our potted plants into a bark, peat and pumice mix.  They seem to respond well to both of these.

Water Needs – Over the drier summer periods water thoroughly, ensuring that the water drains away.  Let the plants dry out to the point that the soil around them is barely moist and then water again.  Over winter they do not require much watering as the ground is generally moist anyway.

Feeding – Do not overfeed your plants.  Give them a regular, low-dosage of fertiliser, and an occasional foliar feed.

Growing Position – Some Vireyas will take more sun than others and some become more tolerant of the sun as the plants mature.  Morning sun is fine as long as the plants are protected from strong, full afternoon sun.  We grow most of ours in filtered light.

Pruning and Shaping – Vireyas have a reputation for becoming leggy.  Avoid this by pinching out the tips of younger plants to encourage bushiness.  Keeping them low encourages new shoots to come up from the bottom of the stems.  If your Vireya has already become leggy then prune it back hard after flowering.  It, also will eventually shoot up from the bottom.

Planters and Baskets – Some Vireyas have a  drooping habit.  Take advantage of this and plant them in planters and baskets.  Many of the smaller leaved varieties such as Silver Thimbles or Tom Thumb look great treated in this way.

Vireya Rhododendrons

We love Vireyas.  They are brightly coloured, have beautiful foliage ranging from dark to light green through to reds and purples.  They are small shrubs, reaching around 1.2 metres at most.  They look fantastic when they are mass planted and once established won’t give you much trouble.

I have posted a new page showing the varieties that we currently have for sale, obviously this will change often.  We only have a few of each variety at any one time as we only choose the strongest of those propagated. 

Anatta Gold

Cherry Liqueur

Dawn Chorus

Haloed Gold

Highland White Jade

Just Peachy

Lemon Lovely

Scented Sun

Shantung Pink

Simbu Sunset

Star Posy

Sweet Wendy

Tropic Fanfare

Yellow Bunny

Unusual Plants – Orbea variegata

Who would want to buy a plant when the flower smells like rotting meat?  Well, you would be surprised!  What if that plant had a beautiful and very unusual, almost alien flower?  

Orbea variegata

This plant is called Orbea variegata and is a member of the Stapeliad (Stapeliae) tribe.   They are sometimes commonly referred to as ‘carrion flowers’ and they emit the smell so that they can use flies as pollinators.  Not all of them use this method and some are more ‘aromatic’ than others which will instead attract beetles and other sorts of insects. Sometimes mistaken for cactus, they are in fact a succulent.  Many of the varieties can be rather tricky to grow however the lepida gives us no problems at all.  Joyfully, it is also one of the less pungent varieties, although we are lucky in that we have a big, airy greenhouse to keep them in. 

Close up

There are many glorious Stapeliads and I am adding to my collection this year.  The plants are naturally found in parts of Asia, southern and north-east Africa, as well as across the Arabian peninsula. 

I am very much a novice when it comes to these fascinating plants so for more information I highly recommend this site www.stapeliads.info For a look at the different plants and amazing starfish-like flowers click on the SI Database.

My Favourite Plants – February – Haemanthus and Scadoxus

This is the first in a new monthly series of My Favourite Plants. 

Each year I get quite excited come the end of January waiting for our Haemanthus coccineus and Scadoxus multiflorus ssp. katherinae to begin their flowering.  Both of these member of the Amaryllis  family are rather spectacular.   

Haemanthus coccineus (Blood Lily, Paintbrush Lily) 

Haemanthus coccineus new growth Feb 2010

 

 Rising out of their pots like planted lobster tails, these bulbs, like the Scadoxus come from southern Africa.  They are very drought tolerant, ours receive only the natural rainfall and you should avoid excess moisture getting into the bulbs as they may rot.  They are quite happy in full sunlight or semi-shaded areas. 

They grow either as single bulbs or as a clump.  At the end of summer the flowering will begin, each bulb pushing up a single flower.  En masse they are a wonderful and unusual sight.  Rarely will the leaves occur at the same time as flowering as the leaves begin once the flowers die back.  You will get two and very occasionally three leaves from each bulb.  The leaves are very large and a beautiful shade of green.  Once they begin yellowing off at the end of winter I slice them off as they look unsightly and they will attract hungry snails who absolutely love them.  They will set seed, but this is not always easy to grow.  Generally propagation is by division of the bulbs. 

For us, they are very easy to grow, either in pots or directly in the ground.  For cooler climates, I would recommend them to be kept in pots and under cover, they are not frost tolerant and do not like temperatures below 15°C. 

I haven’t got any photos of my own of this plant in flowers, but in a couple of weeks they shall all be up so I will post it in then. 

There are a number of Haemanthus, many of them are unavailable in New Zealand, some are very difficult to cultivate.  I am particularly desirous of  Haemanthus humilis and humilis hirsutus but I do not believe they are available in NZ.  I’d love to be wrong, if any one has any … 

Scadoxus multiflorus ssp. katherinae (Fireball Lily) 

Lush green foliage with a spectacular large orange/red globe of  flowers, this plant is a real stunner and attracts a lot of attention.  Once considered  part of the Haemanthus genus, this has been rectified due to a number of obvious differences.  This plant will grow in New Zealand very easily, either in a pot or planted in the ground.  It needs partial to full dry shade, if planted in full sun the leaves become too easily sun damaged.  The snails absolutely adore the new leaf growth so you must make sure to combat this or they will completely destroy the years display. The plant is dormant over winter and will die right back. 

The flowers head will be up to 30 centimetres in diameter and on a stalk up to a metre high.  They keep in a vase exceptionally well and look amazing in floral arrangements.  Although I often read that seed sets easily, that has not been our experience.  We have obtained seed in the past but  last year, we did not get any at all.    I believe that the plants are slower to flower when grown from seed as opposed to from division of the parent.  That is our experience anyway. 

Scadoxus multiflorus katherinae