Hi Angela
I like this idea and am planning to do something along these lines in my tiny space.

Remember the amaryllis bulbs you gave me back in Oct? They bloomed a double red and are super-similar to my faves I got a couple of years ago. I've got a pic of them side-by-side, if you'd like to see it.

Anyways, I said all that to say - if you still have some of those bulbs and they are in the pictured bulb bed, then you should have some blooms in Sept, too.

Oh, wait - you did say "spring, summer, fall".

Never mind!

But thank you for these beauties!

Susie

Hi Susie! So glad yours bloomed! It does look very similar to your other one - so glad it is one you enjoy! It looks great there! I planted your hymenocallis bulbs in part of my bulb bed - thanks for the reminder about when they bloom - I wasn't sure if I should expect early or late summer. And for late fall, I've got oxbloods and lycoris mixed into the areas that have rain lilies in summer.

That's great that you are doing something similar! I don't have a spring shot in exactly the same spot, but this is close, taken about April:
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The hippeastrums are in full bloom, and the matchsticks have been going since around Christmas. The matchsticks are great to mix in - not a bulb - but do give some winter flowers.
Here's my bamboo bed in winter when the matchsticks are at their peak, and the hippeastrum foliage is nice greenery.
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Have fun creating your multi-season show!

The "matchsticks" are Bromeliads, they should be Aechmea gamosepala They are beautiful, and we grow a variegate form (with green and white striped leaves) of this Bromeliad in our local Botanical Garden.

This post was edited by haweha on Tue, Jun 17, 14 at 14:38

haweha - you are absolutely correct about the scientific name for matchsticks. I have never seen the variegated form - I googled it, and it is beautiful! Is it as cold hardy as the plain green one? One of the great things about it is that it can take some frost without damage.

Very nice pictures, thanks for sharing! The Scadoxus are wonderful bulbs, one of my favorites! I also love Rain Lilies!

I so wish I could grow Amaryllids outdoors, planting and leaving them in a garden setting... but the only thing truly hardy this far north are the Naked Ladies, which are very nice, but it would be even nicer to be able to grow a variety!

Thanks Jodi. It is fun to be able to grow outdoors. Some varieties of naked lady grow here, for others, it is too hot. The red lycoris seem to need some chill time, so they don't bloom well every year. But I love them, and they are great winter greenery, so I have a lot of them. The pink kind you probably have don't bloom here, not enough cold. They are more like daffodils in that regard. But they are gorgeous, glad you can grow them.

And this morning I see that my Mrs. James Hendry crinum is putting up its maiden bloom spike! Can't wait to see it open! Been waiting 3 years for it!

Ahh, Crinum... something I have to grow in containers. And Crinum come in such a wonderful variety, too. Oh well...

Hello Sun_Worshipper,
we do not have informations whether the variegate form of Aechmea gamosepala is particularly cold-tolerant. We are growing them but exclusively indoors, in a public greenhouse in the local Botanical Garden. We have a good number of these and when we take them out of the soil in order to rejuvenate them (by removing the old sprouts which have bloomed and will not grow further) we carefully select their offsets we put back into place, bcz there is a always a certain tendency of "unmixing" namely of the nice green-and-white pattern. Some individuals (and all their subsequent offests respectively) will eventually end up as albinos which is not only unappealing but actually "lethal".

Thanks haweha - that is great information! Very interesting that they can go fully albino, usually variegated plant offsets will tend to revert back to full green. Seems unusual for them to try to go full white - and as you indicate not desireable - no chlorophyll left for photosynthesis.