Are you looking for a beautiful flower that will look fantastic in a container but also in bouquets and arrangements? Look no further than Peruvian Lily!
Alstroemeria, commonly known as Peruvian Lily, is a star among florists and floral arrangements enthusiasts. Visit the closest florist in your surroundings, and you’ll see that most mixed flower bouquets include some funnel-shaped flowers nicely decorated with warm brown freckles. Those flowers are Peruvian Lilies.
Peruvian Lily stands out for many things, including its exotic appearance and lovely bright colours. Plus, this beautiful flower will be the last to die in floral arrangements, lasting in your arrangements for up to two weeks. What’s more, your Peruvian Lilies will also attract pollinators like bees, butterflies, and birds to your garden, thanks to their colours and contrasting patches. And the best thing is that caring for this flower isn’t that difficult either!
Ready to learn more about growing and caring for Peruvian Lily? Keep reading below!
About Peruvian Lily
Contents
- Peruvian Lily is native to South America, Chile, and Argentina, to be more precise.
- Peruvian Lily belongs to the family of Alstroemeriaceae, a family of over 254 known species, the Alstroemeria genus.
- The botanical name of Peruvian Lily is Alstroemeria. This beautiful flower is also commonly known as the Lily of the Inca, Parrot Lily, Princess Lily, and the Inca Lily.
- There are many varieties of Peruvian Lily. Some of them are low-growing, while most are tall and will require staking. Popular Peruvian Lily varieties are Butterscotch, Fougere, Flaming Star, Indian Summer, Mauve Majesty, and Inticancha Antarctica.
- Peruvian Lilies make excellent accent plants, looking spectacular in mass plantings. But these flowers also look amazing as border plants. Obviously, as mentioned above, Peruvian Lilies make fantastic cut flowers. You can also use them to create floral arrangements to add some colours to your home.
- Peruvian Lilies are sun-loving, and these flowers prefer to grow in full sun, and sun exposure is extremely important for blooming. However, they are sensitive flowers, so they require shade in the afternoon in very hot areas to avoid sunburn.
- The Lily of Inca likes to grow in fertile but well-draining soil. One great way to offer your Peruvian Lilies with soil that has these two qualities is to improve it with an organic amendment, be it compost or leaf mould.
- In terms of water needs, Peruvian Lily prefers to sit in moisture, especially during hot summer days as temperatures heat up. You should give your lilies at least one inch of water every week or whenever you notice the soil surface to be dry.
- Peruvian Lily thrives at warm temperatures, and the ideal range is 65 to 80 °F (18-26 °C). Temperatures that exceed 90 °F (32 °C) can cause your Peruvian Lilies to produce blind stems, which are just foliage, without flowers.
- Some of the most common pests that can affect the Peruvian Lily are slugs, mites, and aphids. You can remove mites and aphids with insecticidal soap and use slug baits to prevent damage to your beautiful lilies. Root rot can also be a problem if the roots of the flowers are kept wet consistently. Another common fungal disease that affects Peruvian Lilies is Botrytis blight.
Peruvian Lily Features: An Overview
- Alstroemeria is a tuberous perennial featuring upright stems that grow in bushy clumps that end in small, lily-like, funnel-shaped flowers of all colours and bright green, lance-shaped foliage.
- Peruvian Lilies can grow up to one to three feet (30-90 cm) tall.
- In early summer, Peruvian Lily produces flowers that can be of different colours, including pink, orange, red, yellow, white, and purple. The blooms have a unique and sweet fragrance.
- Peruvian Lily is considered a toxic plant. Any part of this flower can seriously sicken a person or a small animal because it contains tulipalin A, a toxin that causes gastrointestinal problems. Signs of intoxication can be vomiting and other digestive problems. The sap that comes from the plant can also be poisonous if you have skin contact with it. So, make sure to plant your Peruvian Lilies out of your kids’ and pets’ reach.
Growing Peruvian Lily
Caring for Peruvian Lily is not too difficult. As soon as you learn how to care for this stunning flower, your garden will be filled with spectacular flowers and fragrances.
First of all, consider that Peruvian Lilies like to grow in full sun, and these flowers produce more abundant blooms if they get proper light exposure. So, make sure that you keep them in a sunny spot in your garden. However, if you live in an area where summers get really hot in the afternoon, it’s best to choose a location where your lilies will get partial shade.
Another thing to remember about caring for these lovely flowers is that they like rich and fertile soil which helps them get enough energy to produce their fantastic blooms. So, one feeding in early spring, before the blooming season, will give your lilies the boost of energy they need. We recommend using a balanced flower fertilizer. You can help your Peruvian Lilies stay healthy and happy with some organic additives such as manure or compost throughout the year.
Light pruning is another essential step to help your Lilies thrive. All you have to do is to cut these flowers back after blooming to prevent them from directing their energy to produce seeds. These plants can get invasive if allowed to produce seeds. If your lilies get really aggressive with their spreading, pull up stems.
Planting Peruvian Lily
Planting Peruvian Lily isn’t a highly complex task either. When planting this flower, you need to keep in mind some of its ideal growing conditions, including soil preferences, light requirements, and the preferred temperature range.
One thing to know about planting Peruvian Lily is that this plant can also grow in containers. If you want to control its invasive characteristics better, you can choose to plant your lilies in large containers. Yet, lilies grown in containers may need staking to remain upright. You can plant Peruvian Lily bulbs or seeds, whether you grow them in containers or in your garden, and both are good options to start your own flowers.
First, keep in mind that these lovely flowers need plenty of sun exposure to bloom abundantly. So, choose a sunny spot to plant them. Also, remember that Peruvian Lilies are toxic to humans and pets, so choose a rather place where they will be out of your kids’ and pets’ reach.
- COLOR: Pink, Red, Yellow, Gold, Orange, Apricot, White, & Maroon, all with different colored markings
- PLANT SEEDS: After danger of frost / Indoors weeks before last frost / Fall / Cold Stratify
- BLOOM TIME: Late Spring - Summer
- HARDINESS ZONE: 7 - 10
- LIGHT REQUIREMENTS: Sun - Part Shade
- Easy to grow compact plant with vibrant blooms grows excellent in containers and beds. This Peruvian Lily mix contains shades of red, rose and white with pink and will bloom all summer.
- Peruvian lily is a 10 - 16 inch tall perennial growing in USDA zones 7 - 10.
- Alstroemeria grows best in full sun to partial shade.
- Sow 3 - 4 seeds per plant and space 10 - 16 inches apart.
- It is recommended to place the seeds in dampened peat moss, seal in a ziploc bag and place the seeds in the refrigerator for 3 weeks. After the cold treatment, grow Peruvian Lily seed in 3 inch pots, 3 - 4 seeds in each pot and lightly cover them with soil. Place pots in 70F for germination.
- Peruvian Lily Mix Alstroemeria Dr Salters Flower Jocad (20 Seeds)
- NAME: Peruvian Lily - Dr Salter’s Mix | OTHER COMMON NAMES: Lily of the Incas | SCIENTIFIC NAME: Alstroemeria Hybrida | COLOR: Pink, Red, Yellow, Gold, Orange, Apricot, White, & Maroon, all with different colored markings
- PLANT SEEDS: After danger of frost / Indoors weeks before last frost / Fall / Cold Stratify | BLOOM TIME: Late Spring - Summer | HARDINESS ZONE: 7 - 10 | PLANT HEIGHT: 12 - 26” | PLANT SPACING: 9 - 12”
- LIGHT REQUIREMENTS: Sun - Part Shade | SOIL & WATER PREFERENCES: Average | QUANTITY: 20 Seeds
To prepare the soil, make sure to add some organic fertilizer like compost or leaf mould to enrich your garden soil. Don’t forget to mix it with coarse sand or crusher fines to improve drainage and avoid fungal diseases like root rot.
Another essential aspect to remember when planting your Peruvian Lilies is the temperatures these flowers like. As mentioned above, temperatures that exceed 90 °F (32 °C) can cause your lilies to grow only foliage but no blooms. To prevent that, if you live in an area where summer days get really hot, choose to plant your lilies in a spot where they get partial shade. Or, ideally, choose a place where your flowers will receive sunlight only in the morning.
Another vital aspect to remember when planting this beautiful flower is that it is susceptible to fungal diseases if kept in too much moisture. So, if you live in a humid area, make sure to provide your Peruvian Lilies with adequate spacing that will allow good air circulation and carry away spores of fungal diseases.
Watering Peruvian Lily
When it comes to watering your Peruvian Lilies, it is recommended to provide your flowers with regular moisture. This is especially required during sweltering summer days.
Generally, it is wise to water your lilies once a week or when you notice that the first top inches of the soil are dry. However, make sure that you don’t overwater them as these flowers are susceptible to root rot that appears when the roots sit in wet soil consistently.
Using the “soak and dry” watering method, when you wait for the soil surface to feel dry between watering, is the best way to make sure you provide your Peruvian Lilies with just the right amount of water it needs.
Propagating Peruvian Lily
Want more of these beautiful lilies in your outdoor space? You have two options to propagate your mature Peruvian Lily flowers: by dividing tubers or using cuttings. Also, keep in mind that the ideal time of the year for Peruvian Lily propagation is in early spring before new growth starts to emerge.
To propagate Peruvian Lilies by dividing tubers, follow these steps:
- Cut off any dead growth and cut back green growth to a height of about six inches.
- Dig a few inches around the clump you plan to divide.
- Cut apart clumps to ensure that each clump you will replant features three to five tubers.
- Replant the Peruvian Lily clumps using our tips from the Planting section.
To propagate your Peruvian Lily flowers from cuttings, simply take the cuttings and plant them.
In Conclusion
Growing Peruvian Lilies will be excellent news for your outdoor space. These lovely flowers will not only look amazing thanks to their bright colours, but they will also attract butterflies and other beneficial pollinators which will help your other garden plants as well.
Caring for Princess Lily won’t give you a hard time as long as you respect this flower’s growing requirements. Provide your lilies with plenty of sunlight, well-draining soil, regular moisture, and some early fertilizer, and they will grow healthy and happy, ready to make your floral arrangements look stunning.
If you enjoyed learning about the Peruvian Lily, you might also like our African Lily, Canna Lily, and Daylily guides.
1 Comment
Hey I grow alstroemeria buh I don’t have a ready market can you help