Plant in a most any soil that has pretty decent drainage in full sun or in shade where the flowers seem to last a bit longer. Occasional irrigation in spring even when plants are still dormant is recommended to keep roots alive and promote flowering and it responds rapidly to irrigation provided in later summer and early fall. Hardy to below 0° F with a winter mulch and useful in USDA Zones 7 to 10. These bulbs make a beautiful and colorful punch of red in the garden.

Rhodophiala bifida comes from Uruguay and Argentina and reportedly were brought to Texas by German immigrants from Argentina in the 1850's. The name for the genus is from the Greek word 'rhodo' meaning "red" and the Latin word 'phiala' which is a "flat-bottom drinking vessel" or "saucer" in reference to the bowl shape of the flower. The specific epithet means deeply two-cleft. Rhodophiala is often compared to and closely related to the florist amaryllis (Hippeastrum), but with their narrow parallel sided leaves are actually more like a large flowering Habranthus or Zephyranthes. We originally grew this plant in 2001-2003 and put it back into production in 2020. 

The information about Rhodophiala bifida that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.