Nerines

Once upon a time, in the last century, when I was a kidlet, I used to get Nerines and Belladonnas confused. They are both candy pink bulbs that come up without their leaves. So just after I have been thinking about Belladonnas, I have been having brekkie on the front verandah considering one particular clump of Nerines.

This particular clump is right behind my mother’s bird bath, and gets heaps of water when she tips it out and puts in fresh stuff. And it is thriving. Has the tallest Nerines I have seen anywhere. All the rest in the same bed struggle to survive as they get just barely adequate water. Some have given up the ghost and some rarely flower.

So I have come to the conclusion that Nerines in my environment are mega-water lovers/users. So I don’t think I will persist with them there. I have others that I am more hopeful for – the smaller, white ones seems tougher and grow well where-ever I have them. This year I have high hopes for the earlier, smaller but darker pink ones I rescued from another garden I once had. Except they might take a year to settle in after being moved. And I know where the Stardust Nerine (with little flecks of gold in the petals) was planted. Just did it survive? I am anxiously watching a bare stick that marks it as autumn and Nerine season approach.