Gloriosa, Climbing Lily, Fire Lily, Flame Lily, Gloriosa Lily, Glory Lily 'Rothschildiana'

Gloriosa superba grows naturally on the coastal dunes in humus rich beach sand along the east coast of South Africa in Durban as a result...Read More this plant is very salt wind resistant. I have grown it very successfully as a green roof plant as part of research I have been undertaking for the City of Durban to select suitable local plants which can be grown on bio-diverse green roofs.
see more info on Gloriosa superba as a green roof plant at http://www.ecoman.co.za/green/green_docs/gloriosa_superba.ht...

I planted 2 tubers in a pot last spring and had lovely blooms. I ordered more and have just planted them in pots, also.
My questi...Read Moreon: I am in zone 7, and we are still having nights in 40s & 50s F. Can I leave these pots on the deck all night? I don't know how "tender" they are when first planted and haven't sprouted yet.
Thanks for any advice!

I have this plant in a smaller trellised wooden pot w/a clematis. It usually blooms when the clematis stops blooming. I had tubers but ...Read Moregrew one plant (that did not survive) from seed like an Amaryllis Belladonna. Just begin experimenting by putting 3 seeds in a small clay pot w/good potting soil you usually use and put it in a greenhouse condition until you see sprouts and then harden off and fertilize. Experimentation is the Best route. They are worth "tending". They are such magnificent flowers. Every time I see them bloom I think: "I grew that?" : )

I was given some Gloriosa Lilies back in 2003. I have always grown mine in containers and they have bloomed every year. I have always p...Read Morelaced them next to a shrub to climb.
I have tried to get them to climb a trellis, but mine seems to only want to climb on a "living" plant.
I have gathered some seed pods this year and would like to know how to grow them from seed.
If anyone knows how to sprout the seeds, I would greatly appreciate the information.
~ Always growing, always learning.

This is a marginal at best plant where I live in Southern California. I received a bulb free at the county fair three years ago. For tw...Read Moreo years, the vine came up but no flowers. This year, there were two beautiful flowers at the top of a three-foot vine, very beautiful flowers. After that, it died back. It took over two years to flower!! I will check the acidity of the mulch I use, as that could be a problem. Bulb is planted in the ground, not in a pot.

It does well outdoors in Baton Rouge and every year it is slightly more rampant and floriferous than the year before. I'm having to cut i...Read Moret back since it is taking over more and more. I have never done a thing to encourage this plant after the initial planting. Drought or flood, snow or heat in the upper 90's, it thrives.

I purchased 2 tubers of this particular Gloriosa mid-April. I planted them both vertically in the same container in a 75/25 mix of pottin...Read Moreg soil to perlite. I watered them well and patiently awaited their growth. They sprouted and started to grow quite well. When the bud of leaves at the apex of both stems began to unfold I was really excited!! To my surprise, however, I noticed something was a little off with one of the plants... It's first leaf appeared to be variegated in the direction of the veins. Thinking to myself that the plant might be suffering from an ailment, I moved the container out of partial shade and into a bright yet indirect Sun location. Still a couple more leaves came out from the growing tip, they too having the same variegation. I did an online search and couldn't find much information on this phenomenon, except for one account of it with few pictures of a plant that looked to have had a bit too much sunlight. Has anyone else had a Gloriosa sprout with healthy, yet variegated foliage? All in all, I'm pleased though, one will be different from the other, it'll look interesting at the most!

I grew up in New Guinea, where we grew it up our carport, then after 45 years, I managed to grow it in a very dry, almost desert area whe...Read Morere I now live. Everyone who has seen my beauty in flower is fascinated, but I would like to know what sort of fertiliser to give it.

I grow these in pots on my sunny deck, they grow about 4 feet tall in the pots and I put a short trellis in the pot for the tendrils to a...Read Morettach themselves. They are a truly delightful flower that is very easy to grow in pots. I dig them up at the end of the year and replant in the spring.

I have grown this plant to sell and have had good luck but found I had to keep the alkalinity up higher than what was normal on usual be...Read Morench plants for them to be happy and grow well and flower. I am wondering if some of the posts I am reading might be helped by raising the alkalinity of your pots some what. Just a thought.
Deuce

Talk about low maintenance...I tried starting bulbs in a pot, and nothing happened for months. I dumped the pot out (next to the fence),...Read More and a couple of years later it came up! It's doing better each year!

I have grown Gloriosa Rothschildiana for 2 years now in East Texas zone 8b. Our winters are generally mild but last winter was unusually...Read More cold and we did have several freezes and dips into the teens. These tubers were in a large pot and they survived the winter just fine for me, without any protection or special effort, on the north-facing open porch in the large pot. This spring, I dug them out and set them aside for 3 months before finally getting them into a new location. They IMMEDIATELY sprouted and grew and are blooming full force. They are tough!

I will say that the color can vary slightly from vine to vine. Some are more flame-red, others tend toward purply red.

Lastly, I too have experienced that they POUT when touched or moved. Especially if the tendrils are relocated. The entire plant will sulk for weeks, stop blooming, stop growing. Also, they refuse to climb supports that have a larger diameter (as in pencil size), and seem to prefer the more delicate supports that are approximately as thin as a typical lightweight tomato cage.

Serious invasive plant/weed in Australia since its introduction in 1950's. Given that it can also spread by seed and poisonous to animal...Read Mores, I wouldn't grow it anywhere it's hardy.

I grew this for the first time this year. I had it growing in a large container that was up against a trellis. It didn't get very big or ...Read Morebloom because slugs were contantly eating away the leaves. Next year I plan to put it up off the ground so that the slugs won't be able to reach it so easily.
These seem to be real slug magnets.

I have at least a dozen of these plants growing in zone 7b, they are hardy here as long as they are well mulched in the winter. And I do ...Read Morehave to touch them to move them around and they never stop growing for me. It is also growing in very acid soil and doing well.

From Botanica: (Glory Lily, Climbing Lily) This genus contains one variable species of tuberous climbing lily from Africa and western Asi...Read Morea. Although it flowers resemble some of the Lilium species with strongly reflexed petals, the genus is actually more closely related to Colchicum and the plants contain the same highly poisonous compound colchicine. They climb over low shrubs and through long grass by means of the coiled, tendril-like tips of the leaves. They are widely grown for their decorative, brightly colored flowers which make long-lasting and most attractive cut flowers. The plants die back in fall or in the tropical dry season to dormant tubers.
Cultivation: Glory lily is a tropical plant and will thrive outdoors only in frost-free, warm climate; in colder areas it can be grown indoors in pots. Plant the tubers in late spring in full sun and rich, well-drained soil, fertilizing as the stems begin to elongate. Protect from wind and provide support. Propagate from seed or dormant tubers.
(Hope I did not make many typos)

This plant is very easy to grow and in full sun (in CT) will often reach heights of 8 feet or more. Mine flower energetically with many b...Read Morelooms.

I have disagree with the one negative comment -- I have touched my plants many times, I have to in order to tie them to the trellis the way I want them, and that has never stopped growth for me.

One caution, if the stem breaks the plant will stop growing but it does not hurt the production of the new tuber. In fact, studies of this plant indicate that if you limit the number of blooms you will get a bigger tuber.

A germination detail:

Park's Success with Seeds (1978) - Sow at 70-75*F; germination within 30 days (baggy over pot indoor...Read Mores under cool flourescent lights)

In this midwestern climate I usually grow my upsidedown lilies in large pots with trellis'. 3 or 4 tubers in a 14' or larger pot put on ...Read Morean excellent show. When the season winds down I let em dry out and store them in their pots in the basement over winter. I depot them in early spring, check if the growing point is pink/red and repot them in new soil. An interesting observation is their ability to seemingly re-locate their alignment during a growing season. I start them horizontally a couple inches below the soil line, but when depotted in spring, they're often vertical.
I've also had success growing them in the ground next to a chain link fence. Extreme caution is required when digging them up for winter storage due to their brittleness.

I tried this plant years ago as a young gardener and had no luck. I decided to try again last summer (2005) and bought a pack of tubers ...Read Morefrom a local garden center. I started them inside early in the spring. They came up slowly, then grew very fast. I moved the pot outside after frost danger and let them climb a trellis. I received dozens of comments from neighbors about the exotic flowers. They grew well all summer and finally turned yellow. I wintered the tubers over in a basket filled with wood shavings, along with other tender tubers. They came through the winter very well and are again climbing the trellis out front. They seem trouble free, and easy to grow.

I've got perhaps ten of the gloriosa that bloom profusely every year. They are a facinating vine. I do have one problem with them though....Read More They don't like to be touched by human hands. If I should happen to touch the plant, it stops growing at all. It never fails to happen.

I purchased a bulb about ten years ago in Vancouver and grew it very successfully with lovely blooms--I took it inside in the fall and it...Read More overwintered in a brown paper bag in my cupboard. When I moved to Prince Edward Island in 1999 I planted it in a pot on my rooftop and, as the summers are much hotter and dryer it bloomed all summer--I gave one to a friend and it wouldn't bloom for her--she gave it back to me--it bloomed for me within weeks. I am now trying to grow some of the seeds I harvested last fall--anyone any tips for me? I have it in the warmest part of my kitchen in a small bowl of water--don't know if this is the ideal way to sprout seeds. I love this plant for the amazing color and shape of its flowers. Any help would be much appreciated.

This one is very easy to grow in Ctrl Florida. My hubby even cut it down with a trimmer once and it just resprouted. I have it growing ...Read Moreagainst my willow so that it got sun and then it looks like the tree blooms! It is a very pretty plant and I love the tendrils at the tips of the leaves. I get to leave it in the ground all year here and have not had any problems. Maybe this year I will try to get it to seed for me...

Growing this lily indoors in western AB Canada is a real challenge. We located a source in Surrey, BC and purchased 2 sprouted tubers and...Read More were potted as instructed.We built a trellis about 5 ft high. It was placed in an east window. They grew about 2 in every day and in no time we had to add another 2 feet of trellis. They won't set buds until they start branching and due to the lack of sunlight they didn't branch until 6 feet high -- but it was worth the wait. I am not sure how to post the picture taken in the living room but will try. allandown

These grow pretty wild here and come up year after year. We harvest some of the seeds to give to friends in our Christmas baskets, but l...Read Moreet others fall back to propragate. We live in a very rainy area and have had no troubles with it due to humidity. Some of our vines have grown over 15' high to top over some huge Formosa azalea bushes.

The Gloriosa grows wild in some South Indian jungles. I was recently gifted a pair of tubers which I've placed under a light layer of san...Read Moredy soil and leaves in two separate pots. It's just begun to rain here - what we call our pre-monsoon showers - so that should suffice for the tubers. All that now remains to be done now is wait. I'm hoping that the experience-rating will shift up a notch!

13 May '04: Update
Hurrah! One of the two tubers woke up last week. The new shoot's already about 4 inches tall...

I wasn´t successfull with this plant. I got 4 bulbs and gave one to my grandma. I planted them in organic soil. 2 of my bulbs grew up, a...Read Morend reached a fair height, but didn´t bloom before it all went down. The next year they didn´t come back, and for 3 years it´s been like this, so I assume I killed them all... My grandma´s plant, however, keeps coming back every year, but didn´t bloom yet. I don´t know what went wrong. I´d love to have these flowers, this is one of the few lilies that can grow here.

Very beautiful climber - I have them in three pots growing against a fence. They retreat to the basement for winter, and I start waterin...Read Moreg them again in the spring.

I started growing my plant from seed last year (2002) - although the stems and leaves looked good, it never flowered. I left it in the p...Read Moreot, started watering again in the spring and to date have 4 or 5 healthy looking stems but no flowers. Would this be because I started it from seed?
Any suggestions or help would be much appreciated. This plant is very special as I was born in Zimbabwe where it is the national flower and would love to have this small memory with me here in America.

We have grown Gloriosa Lilies outdoors in our garden for over 40 years. They grow and bloom off and on all year long. The tubers grow d...Read Moreeeper and spread out more each year as they multiply. The V shaped tubers should be planted at an angle with the apex higher than the ends, and it needs to be at least 1 inch deep.

I have always wanted to try growing the gloriosa lily ever since I laid eyes on it. So, this year, I finally bought a small tuber. Howeve...Read Morer, it has yet to come out of dormancy ... it's been about three months, or so, now. I planted it in a 12" faux-terra cotta pot ... an inch or two deep ... horizontally. After a while, I poked around to notice a green bump on the tuber ... I guess it was getting ready to sprout. I thought if I exposed this "green bump" to the sun, it would help it grow faster ... NOT! It healed over and turned into the color that the rest of the tuber is. Nothing else has happened.

I was given some gloriosa tubers two years ago. They die down in Montgomery, AL in the winter and new plants pop up next spring. And po...Read Morep they do! They seem to pop up a couple of inches the first night and grow quickly after that. I have small trellises and plant stakes to help them stand and they are so unique as the blooms develop. I transplanted one that came up late in the summer to a pot and brought it in when weather turned cold. I had gloriosa blooms in my dining room window for our Thanksgiving family dinner. I have two plants blooming outdoors now and more smaller ones growing.

I have grown these plants for over 40 years and find them well worth propagating from seed, flowering in their second year for me. Mine a...Read Morere all grown in large pots under glass.
The bulbs are left in the pots after the foliage dies back in the fall, and repotted in early spring, keeping quite dry until new shoots appear. Once the plants start growing fast they enjoy warmth and regular feeds and reward with lots of beautiful flowers.
I have never been very successful with them outdoors but if a sunny S. wall, SHELTERED from WIND, was available I think they would do OK most summers.

I grow this lily in a pot that can be stored dry in a cool place in the winter. It emerges slowly from dormancy in early summer, then ra...Read Morepid growth. Roots get bigger and bigger every year, so vine grows much more vigorously during subsequent years with many more flowers.

Most unusual and exotic of flowers, the gloriosa lily is crimson and yellow. In bud, the petals face downward, but they open up to a back...Read Moreward arch. The stamens are extremely prominent and spread outward, and the pistil points to the side. The configuration of stamens and pistil has been compared to a clock and a minute hand! It is the bizarre shape of the flower and its vivid colors that make one gasp at the sight of it! Other aspects of the plant are unusual; it is a twining vine, with tendrils coming from the tips of the leaves. The vine grows fast in warm weather, blooms, then dies. After a spell, another vine comes up from the tuberous root.