Photo - Linda Ross
Autumn crocus, Zephyranthes candida
This tough little bulb flowers in profusion after rain – hence its sometime alias, the storm lily. It has shiny evergreen foliage and the flowers are white and open, like fragile crocuses.
Description: It has shiny thin, dark-green, evergreen foliage and the flowers are white and open, like fragile crocuses.
Size: up to 20cm tall. Bulbs multiply rapidly to form a clump.
Cultivation: zephyranthes will grow in most regions in sun or semi-shade. Protect it from the hot sun in warm climates. It is not fussy
about soil, even coping with poorly drained clay soils. It’s a little gem for containers (where a watering can may imitate rain, giving plenty of flowers)
and it makes a delightful border in both formal and informal designs.
Special comments: the leaf tips can brown off in hot dry weather. Some people grow it as a border in place of mondo grass.
Text: Libby Cameron
We hope you have enjoyed this article so far.
One of the many benefits of Garden Clinic membership is full access to our website. Members please log in to view the complete articles.
If you are not a Garden Clinic member and wish to access our website as well as enjoy the many benefits of membership, including access to our Helpline 7 days a week, please visit the link below to join us.