Hi Cathy:
Recently I was also given some of this plant. It's taken our rainy spring/summer in stride, blooming beautifully in the heat and humdity with excellent drainage. I would plant it in fairly sandy soil with a nice bit of pea gravel just below some planting soil for winter drainage.

girlgroupgirl

The small plantlets on the sides develop roots and you can break them off the mother plant and they will grow easily. The plant definitly likes a sunny position , especially if you have a wet rainy climate. It is a usefull plant as well , break off about 2 of its nice fleshy leaves and crush them in your hands and rub the gell type of sap into your hand , allow a minute or two to dry and see how soft and silky your hands feel. The plant is very good for ones skin and helps almost any skin problems , psoriasis sufferers report excellent results using it.

Bulbinella robusta is the most commonly grown species here in northern California, and does perfectly well in Sunset zones 14-24, handling our winter rains and light frosts without problems, even in heavy clay soils. I am not sure that it would not get frost damage at temps below 28~29F, but if this is not a regular event all winter long, it will still survive and bloom in more inland places like Orinda/Walnut Creek, where the all time lows can get down to below 20F. The foliage is winter growing, and seems to prefer a dryer summer rest, although it has done just fine for me in summer irrigated gardens(drip irrigation), without rotting out, here in a Sunset zone 16/17 situation.

does anyone have a local (SF bay area) source to purchase this plant?

You could ask your local retail nursery to order this from Suncrest Nursery in Watsonville, but as they are typically summer deciduous, it may not be available again until fall. By November or so they should be leafed out again, and should be easily available as a one gallon container.

Thanx bahia!