Eucomis Aloha Series: A New Bulb Crop For Containers
October 20, 2015 The garden of tomorrow is today’s deck (patio, veranda or porch). I have said that for years now, and I am convinced that, while the personal garden space is not going away, young peoples’ gardens will be outside the back door.
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I am convinced that this millennial fixation is also a crock. We were all young people, once. Every generation had its issues, and somehow the plant world survived. So when I talk about new plant opportunities, I do so in full confidence that a pot or two of this or that will be enhancing decks and verandas across the country.
Tulips and daffodils are mainstay bulbs, but as pot plants for the deck they’re too tall, too shiny and there are too many around gardens, anyway. As garden plants, they are wonderful; as deck plants, not so much. Producing good-looking bulb crops from a dry bulb is relatively easy; plant them and get out of the way. However, I have been waiting for a good bulb crop to emerge to share with you, and I am sold.
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Eucomis Aloha Series Well-Suited For Containers
Pineapple lilies (Eucomis) have been stuck as a warm climate bulb because of a lack of reliable cold hardiness in the Northeast and Midwest. As garden plants, even in perennial areas, decent cultivars are too tall, and flowers and fruit often fall over. As a garden plant, they are barely out there; as a deck plant, they are non-existent.
However, the breeding of the Aloha series has changed my perception of the usefulness of this crop. All four colors are shorter than any other popular cultivars, and they maintain the short stature and strong stem strength in a container. In areas with warm winters, they can be planted in the fall, but they can be planted anytime in spring to early summer for summer color anywhere. In the North, they will be annuals, but so what?
The best of the four colors is ‘Leia,’ because it is more compact and shorter and seed-laden stems after flowering do not fall over. Others are good, but ‘Maui,’ the white-flowered form, may be a little tall in the heat — not a problem further north.
Production protocols are available for Golden State Bulb Growers and others. And to show that this relatively unknown thing is quickly becoming mainstream, research is also being conducted on storage techniques at Cornell University.
So there you go. Let’s put generations in perspective, let’s understand the importance of deck, porch and veranda plants, and let’s knock the socks off anyone decorating their deck with this thing called pineapple lily. Have fun, make money.
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