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My plant of W.densiflora is a rather low growing thing, flowering for me during July.
I have had a series of unfortunate seasons with it involving a malicious slug, rampaging botrytis,
and an untimely drought, so it has never really prospered, but it is hanging on in there! There are a number of plants going around under this name that look different. I grew my plant from seed from Silverhill Seeds in South Africa. Wildflower Nursery in South Africa say: "Watsonia densiflora is a very hardy, evergreen, bulbous plant that forms dense clumps of strap-like leaves and massed spikes of brightly coloured flowers that all open at the same time. It can bloom on and off from November to June. The colour can vary from white to a deep wine-red colour." The Pacific Bulb Society say: "Watsonia densiflora Baker is a common summer-growing species found in the midlands and uplands of KwaZulu-Natal." Peter Goldblatt says: "Watsonia densiflora extends along the coast of eastern southern Africa from Port St Johns in Transkei to St Lucia Bay in Zululand. The first collection of Watsonia densiflora was made by Jean Francois Drege in 1932... The species was, however, only formally described in 1876 when J. G. Baker began to publish the results of his studies of the African Iridaceae." |
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| 16th July 2005 | ||
