been growing it for years, great plant

Aloha,
With such beautiful blooms you must be an expert so please help if you can. I bought six rhizomes from a grower in Oregon. Two are vigorous climbers with buds, two are much smaller and the other two didn't come up at all. Is there anything I can do to help along the two weaker plants? Should I give up on the last two?
Mahalo!

Aloha,

Are they all planted together, or separately? We have had them for many years, and have them planted in different areas, but some are not as happy as other. Ours do best with half-day sun and shaded roots. We almost never fertilize them, and they get ample water, except when they are dormant, then we try to shelter them from the rain. Also, before giving up, try digging them up carefully to see how they look. Be very careful, as they are extremely easy to break... if you do so, then you should give up.

I'll talk to my wife tonight and see if she has anything to add.

Eric

Bought my first Gloriosa Lily! Kept indoors for now as it's too cold in Chicago still. The vine/leaves have been droopy, but as I've read, they don't like to be disturbed, so I figured the trip to the Lowe's was stressing to it. Had it 3 weeks and this last week the leaves are yellowing and dying. I've kept the potting mixture moist. What am I doing wrong?

This photo finally explains why the flowers appear looks red and yellow in some photos and dark pink in others. Do flowers lose their yellow color and turn crimson red/dark pink as they age?

Hello again!

@ gulfblvd - Okay, these plants need to be treated a specific way. First off, disturbing the bulbs when dormant is fine, as long you are very careful not to break them, as they are fairly brittle. Otherwise, it's no biggie to transplant them into different pots or divide them out, (as they will multiply over time.) What you need to do is let the soil completely dry during the winter, and keep them from frost. We put our planters in the garage, though you may be too cold for that. A closet in the house would likely be fine. Then, when all danger of frost is gone, bring them outside into sun, and water them well. They will come back up from the rhizomes. My guess is that Lowe's bought them from a place that had them in much warmer conditions. So... you bought them while they were growing well, but due to your climate being too cold, kept them indoors, which likely has too little light. Even here in California, ours are just starting to come back up, and we can put them in "mostly" full sun. Unfortunately, I think my advice is going to be less than satisfactory for you. But, here it is anyway: Put them in the brightest spot you can indoors until it is warm enough to put them outside,(45 degree minimum would be a good time to start). Place them in full sun thereafter, until fall, when frost danger comes again. You may not have them recover this year, and if the stems die back all the way to the ground, cut them off. However, if you keep them dry as I suggested earlier throughout the winter, you will likely have success next year. Hope that helps!

@ love_the_yard - I have two answers to your question. Yes, the flowers open with much bright yellow in them, then they lose it over a couple of weeks as the flower ages. Also, they are quite variable in color, and some of them in the picture are from different sources, thus have different red coloration. One set is much darker red and the other more of a bright red which ages to a pinker color.

Happy Gardening!!

Eric Wortman

Please help me! I have a brand new gloriosa vine, and I've got several blooms, but they don't look like that at all! They're mostly yellow with a little bit of maroon streaking. The blooms are about a week or so old. Do they change color? The pic on the package that the bulb came in look exactly like yours. Thank you for any info!

Hi
Note that some of the above posters mention color change. I've seen them locally in several shades as welll as bicolors.. I don't grow them my self just from observation of neighbors Closest to me are mostly yellow with red edges..
Maybe there are named varieties?? gary.