How To Grow... Nerines

For a stunning late-autumn display nerines are hard to beat, says Anne Swithinbank

- Anne Swithinbank

AMONG the most beautiful of our flowering garden bulbs, Nerine bowdenii opens glistening pink, lily-like blooms in October and November, bringing fresh colour surprisingly late in the year.

My parents had an impressive colony in their front garden, all along the south facing wall of their bungalow. Over the years, bulbs multiplied, jostling each other and pushing well above the surface but it seemed the more congested they became, the better the show. There were so many blooms, we could take a dozen or more stems as cut flowers without leaving gaps.