Alstroemeria Majestic Fougere

Alstroemeria Majestics is an elegant variety of this series of Majestics Inca lilies selected for their vigour, cold resistance, and extraordinary floribundity. They all have large growth and long flower stalks ideal for cut flowers. This variety offers pure white flowers with green tips, speckled with mauve-pink and streaked with brown. It is a perennial plant that reappears year after year if cared for by providing rich and well-drained soil and regular watering in dry weather. You can plant it in full sun or partial shade, in a bed protected from the wind that could bend the stems.

Alstroemerias, belonging to the Alstroemeriaceae family, are perennial plants with tuberous roots native to South America. The hardiest ones, like A. aurantiaca, are native to the Chilean Andes and Patagonia. Sometimes slow to establish, Inca lilies can disappear or... become invasive! Quirky but fantastic plants, very sensitive to growing conditions, they are 'indestructible' once you find the right spot for them. Horticulturists have been working for a few years to develop more reliable and resistant varieties for our wet and cold winters. The Majestics series was developed near Angers. It brings together tall hybrids that can withstand short freezes of around -15°C if the base is protected from moisture.

Alstroemeria Majestics Fougere quickly forms dense clumps from spring, composed of numerous leafy stems reaching about 85 cm (34in) in height when in bloom, with a spread that is almost identical. The flowering takes place from June to October, continuously if the soil remains moist. Each flower stalk bears several 5-6 cm (2in) flowers, gathered in terminal umbels. They consist of 3 small central petals streaked with brown, washed with pink and yellow, surrounded by 3 larger petals with a wide purple-pink macule and a green tip. The foliage is abundant and arranged along the stems. The leaves are dark greenish-blue. The foliage and stems disappear in winter, leaving only the slightly creeping base with fleshy roots underground. The roots are sensitive to the shock of transplantation, especially in older plants.

Alstroemeria Fougere is a beautiful border plant whose exotic and charming flowers last a long time in a vase, up to 2 weeks if you take care to change the water every day and occasionally trim the stems. When well-established, this exuberant plant offers a magnificent spectacle. In the garden, Alstroemeria Majestics pairs well, for example, with smaller-sized agapanthus (Golden Drop, Silver Moon). It can also be associated with grasses; Stipa, small Miscanthus, or Muhlenbergia capillaris will accompany its flowering with their foliage and delicate blooms. In a large flower pot, combine this colourful variety with blue lobelias or Diamond Frost Euphorbia, for example.