Hippeastrum Tierra

Amaryllis Tierra, formerly marketed under the name Hippeastrum Terra Mystica, is a variety that will appeal with its warm and very elegant colour: its medium-sized flowers are perfectly shaped and their silky texture perfectly highlights a finely edged burnt orange hue with white. The throat, plum-coloured, adds depth to the corollas. Easy to cultivate indoors, this bulbous plant is irreplaceable for supplying flowers in the house during the end-of-year festivities.

Originally from subtropical regions of Central and South America, Hippeastrum are frost-sensitive plants belonging to the Amaryllidaceae family, generally grown in pots in our climate.

In full bloom, Hippeastrum Tierra forms a clump of 45-50 cm (18-20in) in height and 30 cm (12in) in width. The funnel-shaped flower is composed of wide overlapping petals, strongly coloured in terracotta orange on a light yellow background that sometimes shows through towards the base of the corolla. Each petal is finely edged with white. The centre of the flower is a dark brownish-purple, releasing a cluster of long curved white stamens with a pale green-yellow base. Four to five 12 cm (5in) in diameter flowers crown a thick hollow stem that is often followed by another. Positioned back-to-back, they form a unique composition together. The leaves are ribbon-shaped and medium green in colour. They turn yellow and then dry out some time after flowering, while the large bulb goes into dormancy.

Planting an Amaryllis is a very rewarding experience. The Hippeastrum Terra Mystica is very easy to grow and its growth is extremely rapid; 6 to 10 weeks after planting, the flowers are already blooming. You can enjoy them throughout the winter. To offer it as a Christmas gift, consider planting it at the beginning of November. This variety does not need companions to showcase its obvious beauty. You can plant some simple snowdrop bulbs at its base, just to adorn its slightly stiff stems. Preferably expose it to the sun, , for examplein front of a window. Prune the stem when the flowers have faded to promote re-flowering.

Amaryllis is actually a misuse of language directly linked to an error made in the 18th century. It was Linnaeus himself who used it to name the American species. However, the name was already being used for another beautiful flower, this one from South Africa. Conventionally, the denomination Amaryllis was kept for both. To distinguish them, the mention Hippeastrum was added for the first one and Belladona for the second. It must be said that both deserve this name well: Amaryllis means 'sparkling' and, in classical Greek literature, the plant was the subject of a pastoral poem where the beautiful shepherdess Amaryllis dies of a love that will only be accessible to her after a terrible wound. From her blood will emerge beautiful bunches of red flowers.