#cyrtanthus

Plant of the Day

Sunday 14 September 2025

In the early autumn the bulbous perennial Cyrtanthus elatus (Scarborough lily, George lily, Knysna lily) bursts into flower. This plant needs a humus-rich, well-drained soil in a frost-free location. In a sunny outside border the bulbs can be planted at twice their depth to protect against low temperatures.

Cyrtanthus obliquus

Cyrtanthus is a genus of bulbs in the Amaryllis Family, with most found in South Africa, though some occur farther north on the continent. Some are found in the winter-rainfall area, and others in the summer-rainfall area, but Cyrtanthus obliquus doesn't fit neatly into either category. Its eastern populations get mostly summer rainfall, but farther west it occurs in parts of the southern coast that get rain in both summer and winter. At the Ruth Bancroft Garden, our plants get occasional summer irrigation as well as rainfall during the winter months. The large nodding conical flowers come in summer, mostly coral-red, but with yellow (or yellow & green) at the mouth. Pictured are the flowers of 2 different plants, with the second one having more green at the tips.