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Alstroemeria "Meyer's Hybrids" (Peruvian Lily) - A seed grown series of multiple-colored perennials that were generally short in stature with large flowers that were first introduced with sensation at a Huntington Botanic Gardens plant sale in the mid 1980s that had the early arriving attendees scrambling to purchase the plants.
Plant in full sun to light shade and water regularly to occasionally in late spring and early summer. Tolerates fairly dry conditions in coastal gardens but vigor and flowering are best when plants are irrigated. Hardy to 15-20° F but tolerates lower temperatures if well mulched. When trimming or cutting Alstroemeria for flowers it is best to pull the stems out, so they break off below ground at the crown to stimulate the formation of new shoots but do so carefully so as not to pull out pieces of the rhizome itself.
The Meyers Hybrid Alstroemeria were the result of the breeding program conducted by of one of California's great plantsmen, Fred Meyer (12/3/1953- 5/12/1999) of Bonsal, California. Some selections of these hybrids were named either by Fred or others who later grew them such as 'Meyer's White', 'Meyer's Red', 'Rachel' and 'Las Olas'. 'Las Olas' was actually a pink and white-colored flowering plant that was patented in 1999 (now expired) by the Florida Foundation Seed Producers Inc. The series originated as hybrids between Alstroemeria pelegrina from Chile and Alstroemeria pulchella from Brazil that Meyer produced using embryo rescue and subsequent tetraploidization with colchicine with the goal of producing heat-resistant and ever-blooming cultivars. The work was sponsored by the Society of American Florists.
We had a long friendship with Fred Meyer, who had moved up from San Diego County to Santa Barbara in the mid-1980s to grow Protea, Kangaroo Paws and other plants on a ranch his family owned called Rancho Vista del Mundo in the Santa Barbara foothills. During this time he was involved with the Santa Barbara County Horticultural Society and he helped us to introduce many new plants, including these Alstroemeria "Meyer's Hybrids", which we listed in our 1987 through 2002 catalogs.
This information about Alstroemeria Meyer's Hybrids displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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