Alstroemeria Duc d'Anjou William

The Astroemeria 'Duc d'Anjou William', like the other Inca lilies from the "Ducs d'Anjou" series, is a versatile variety, of medium size, hardy and floriferous, particularly suited for ornamental flower beds. This Duc William selection is adorned with pretty white flowers with a pink throat, striped with brown and spotted with yellow. An exotic flowering that renews itself from spring until late in the season. This variety can withstand winter in the ground in most of our regions, under a mulch that protects the stumps from cold and excessive humidity. Its flowers are also very durable in a vase.

The Alstroemeria 'Duc d'Anjou William' is a recent horticultural variety, selected near Angers. All modern Inca lilies are hybrids of several tuberous species native to South America, particularly the Chilean Andes. These high-altitude plants belonging to the amaryllidaceae family are more or less hardy, appreciate moist, well-drained soils, in a light and cool wooded area. Slow to establish, they can disappear or... become invasive! Quirky and fantastic plants, very sensitive to growing conditions, they are "indestructible" once you find the right spot for them.

'Duc d'Anjou William', like all plants in the series, can withstand short freezes of around -15°C in a well-drained soil and under mulch. The plant quickly forms dense clumps formed by leafy stems 50 cm tall when flowering, with a spread of 40 cm. Flowering occurs from June to October. The flowers are gathered in terminal umbels. They consist of 3 narrow petals striped with brown, two of which have a bright yellow spot, surrounded by 3 larger petals, white-pink widely tinged with pink at the base. The foliage is arranged on the upper part of the stems. The leaves of this variety are dark green with a slight bluish tint. The plant disappears in winter, with only the trailing stump and fleshy roots remaining underground. The latter is sensitive to the shock of transplantation, especially in older plants.

The Alstroemeria 'Duc d'Anjou William' is suitable for flower beds, where the plant forms a generous and highly-flowered bouquet for weeks. Place it in small groups among grasses, daylilies, gauras or heleniums for example. It can also be paired with other varieties of Inca lilies from the Ducs d'Anjou series, and plant blue lobelias or Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, with intensely blue flowers and red foliage in October, at its base. Its exotic flowers last several days in a vase, up to 3 weeks if the water is changed every week, regularly removing any leaves that have fallen into the water, and recutting the base of the stems.