GROW A VELTHEIMIA – AND A BEST BULB GIVEAWAY EVER!

Veltheimia ‘Yellow Flame’ giveaway – win a division of this very plant that will bloom next winter in your house!

Yellow Flame is closer to ivory or pale yellow, but in a plant species which is predominantly pink, it’s an exciting thing. Often years go by before one is offered in rare plant catalogs.

We all fall into ruts, the Paperwhite rut, the Amaryllis rut, even into the forced bulb rut, but there is no one telling you that you cannot try something different, and something that is easy – perhaps even more easy than forcing a Dutch bulb like a hyacinth. Veltheimia is  genus in the Hyacinth family, but a small genus, with only 2 distinct species, and a handful of named selections in different colors. Once popular as a conservatory bulb for winter color, they are now hard-to-find, (yet not impossible) one is more likely to get one from an informed friend, or with a good Google search. Most often, bulbs will need to be purchased in summer while dormant, and then potted up fresh for winter growth and bloom, but I am offering one of my bulbs now as a give away, if you leave a comment, or “LIKE” the Growing with Plants Facebook Page, or join as a Google+ member or subscribe to my RSS feed.

I have noticed that my Yellow Flame Veltheimia likes a larger pot, but this year, my divisions were kept cold, and they are blooming with shorter foliage, and darker flowers. Each year seems to be different in the cold greenhouse, I think they really prefer to be in a nice, warm sunny window!

Veltheimia is one of those names that I always misspell, as I want to type Velthiemia, with the i before the ‘e’, but it was named after a patron of early Botany Augustus Von Veltheim by the German botanist Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch (1714-1786). Having a name from a person behind it, helps me remember how to both say it, and spell it as even Wikipediae gets this one wrong, and don’t even mention spellcheck or Apple Autocorrect.

The two known species are V. bracteata, (which comes in a few color forms, but mostly pale pink) and V. capensis – a species with denser growth which provides cultural hints to this ones native land, – the dryer parts of South Africa. By far, the most common species is V. bracteata, and all of its forms are most desirable, especially for window sill culture, as Veltheimia make excellent house plants. Today, I am offering a division of the harder-to-find yellow form which I received years ago under the variety name of ‘Lemon Flame’.

The more common pink flowered Veltheimia bracteata is the most common form, I often give these offsets as gifts to visitors when we host plant society meetings, but I tend to favor the more unusual forms.

Native to South Africa, the Eastern Cape and also found growing in the Mediterranean and S.W. Asia, the plant requires a simple, gravelly organic soil mix. In California, you can grow them outdoors in areas that might receive little summer rainfall, but their true beauty comes when they are raised as potted specimens, along side Clivia and Lachenalia, their cousins and blooming compatriots – the stand bys of any winter bulb collection.

Veltheimia make terrific window sill plants, and their unusual form adds a nice botanical touch to a winter blooming collection of plants. It’s easy to see why these plants were once so popular in the late 1800’s.

Veltheimia are long-lived bulbous plants, often dividing each year during their growth cycle, with one bulbs quickly becoming two or three in one winter, and then by the third of fourth season, completely filling a pot. If repotted, they seem to bloom better, but a large 12 clay pot with a dozen of their distinctive ‘red hot poker’ blooms is nice, too.

Some of my pink selection multiply so fast, that I have too many! The Yellow and bi-colored selections do seem to grow slower, so I have fewer to share. ‘Yellow Flame’ seems to divide in half, each year, so in year one I may have one bulb, and then it divides into two bulbs in the second year. It may then remain as a twin bulb for two more years.

I highly recommend Veltheimia to anyone looking for an easy to grow beginner bulb, that will bloom just when you need some color, January – March. Most Veltheimia appreciate a summer rest, which is where some people go wrong. If the foliage yellows and dies in spring, allow the pot to go bone dry until autumn, with perhaps only a trickle of water to keep the bulb hard. The bulb sits on the surface of the soil, not unlike an amaryllis, so never bury it too deeply, 2/3rds of the bulb should be exposed.

Undemanding, and fun – Veltheimia may still never experience a renaissance, simply because they are difficult to market – they are impractical for wholesale growers to raise, and bloom between major Holiday’s, so the Veltheimia may always remain a collector bulb for those who simply know about them, and of course, with their good friends, for sharing is a must, once you have kept one for a few years.

Veltheimia bulbs are perhaps the easiest of my South African bulbs to grow, especially indoors.

Today I am offering a nice divisions of a rare yellow flowered form  Veltheimia bracteata ‘Yellow Flame’. I will announce the give away winner on Friday night. Good luck! Just leave a comment and if you are so inclined, any of the Social Media sharing such as “like’ on Facebook, or join as a follower on Google, Google+. Of course, you don’t need to do any of this to win, as I won’t check! But you will need to at least, leave a comment without selecting ‘Anonymous’ so that I can contact you.

Good luck! This plant is a treasure to own~

…and just in case your thought that this giveaway was all over…….if you are all extra nice, I might offer this gem!~