Group/Class:  Asiatic Hybrid

Description:

This is a showy plant for planting around shrubbery or in an herbaceous border; fabulous scarlet red blooms dangle gracefully from long straight stems to make a memorable presentation; perfect for massing or to accent the garden

Ornamental Features

Red Velvet Lily features bold nodding scarlet trumpet-shaped flowers with burgundy spots at the ends of the stems in early summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its narrow leaves remain green in colour throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Red Velvet Lily is an herbaceous perennial with a rigidly upright and towering form. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should be cut back in late fall in preparation for winter. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Insects
• Disease

Red Velvet Lily is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use

Planting & Growing

Red Velvet Lily will grow to be about 3 feet tall at maturity extending to 4 feet tall with the flowers, with a spread of 3 feet. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 24 inches apart. It tends to be leggy, with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and should be underplanted with lower-growing perennials. The flower stalks can be weak and so it may require staking in exposed sites or excessively rich soils. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by multiplication of the underground bulbs; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.