Aztec Lily (Sprekelia): An Orchid-Like Bulb, Planting and Care

The Aztec lily is a bulb with one of the most unusual flowers around: six narrow, deep red petals spread so that the bloom looks like an orchid or a stylised lily. It is grown in pots and, in summer, in the garden, and its care is similar to that of its relative hippeastrum.

Flowers as gifts: red roses and potted plants.

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What kind of plant it is

Sprekelia formosissima belongs to the amaryllis family and comes from Mexico and Guatemala. In English it is also called the Jacobean lily. The genus is named after Johann Heinrich von Sprekelsen, a German lawyer and amateur botanist. Each stalk usually carries a single large flower, and a bulb may send up several stalks in a season.

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Planting

• Plant the bulbs in spring in a pot only slightly wider than the bulb, or in the garden once the frosts are over.
• Keep the neck of the bulb above the soil.
• Use light, fertile, free-draining compost.
• Water very sparingly until shoots appear.

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Care while growing

• Light. Bright, with sun; in summer the pot can go outside.
• Watering. Regularly, when the top of the soil is dry; never leave it waterlogged.
• Feeding. Every 2 weeks with a flowering-plant fertiliser while the leaves grow.
• After flowering cut off the stalk but keep the leaves: they build up strength for next year.

Dormancy

In autumn the leaves turn yellow; gradually stop watering. Lift garden bulbs, dry them and store them somewhere dry and cool; potted bulbs can stay in dry compost. Replant or start watering again in spring. Without a rest period the Aztec lily flowers poorly.

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Safety

Like other members of the amaryllis family, sprekelia bulbs are poisonous. Keep them away from children and pets and do not store them near food.

Its care is much like that of its relative hippeastrum. Another long-lasting bulb flower is ornithogalum.

FAQ

Why is my Aztec lily not flowering?

Usually it had no rest period, the bulb is too small or it did not get enough sun.

How do I propagate it?

From offsets, the small bulbs that form beside the mother bulb. Separate them when repotting; they flower after a few years.

Author: Maria Svitlovir

Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.

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