Alstroemerias with more than just flowers seem to be demanding more attention these days. There were a number in the recent RHS trial and two variegated varieties, ‘Phoenix’ and ‘Spitfire’, were given Awards of Garden Merit. Back in February the brightly variegated Alstroemeria ‘Rock and Roll’ featured here on the RHS New Plants blog. Now, another with good foliage but in a different style: ‘Indian Summer’ is the first with dark foliage and is too new to have featured in the trial.
Making a rounded plant no more than 30in/75cm high, the foliage of ‘Indian Summer’ is dark green stained with smoky bronze. So even before the flowers open the foliage marks its mark.
Then, from June to October, the flowers open in a fiery mix of orange and yellow. The intensity of flowering may vary a little over the months but even when flowering is less intense, there are the red buds.
‘Indian Summer’ makes an excellent specimen in a container. In a large container partner it with calibrachoas in fiery or autumnal shades, the old tall single French marigold ‘Striped Marvel’, with gold and orange lantanas, or with other plants in fiery colours. It will also thrive in rich soil in a sunny border.
Editor-in-Chief, RHS
Editor-in-Chief of the RHS Encyclopedia of Perennials; writer for a wide range of newspapers and magazines including The Garden and The Plantsman; member of the RHS Herbaceous Plant Committee and Floral Trials Committee; author of many books on plants and gardens.
Source: RHS My Garden – Alstroemeria ‘Indian Summer’: Dark Foliage and Fiery Flowers by Graham Rice
