- Canna, Hedychium, Agapanthus, Crinum, Lycoris, Zephyranthes, Cyclamen, Habranthus, Allium, Sprekelia, Hippeastrealia, Amarcrinum, Dahlia, Oxalis and many more
Bulbs for the perennial garden reach far beyond the golden trumpets of daffodils so familiar in spring. Many gardeners are becoming increasingly aware of the wide variety of summer and fall bulbs, corms, tubers, and tuberous rooted flowering perennial plants such as agapanthus, allium, cannas, crinum, lycoris and hedychium.
Read More About Bulbs
When you buy bulbs you bring joy and surprise with new plants seeming to leap out of nowhere to display an amazing flower. Some of the most exotic, rarest and hardest to find new plants that we sell are bulbs. We scour the world and find the coolest exotic bulbs from far off places like China, Japan, and South Africa but also bring you rare and esoteric North American native geophytes. We offer some of the worlds largest collections of eucomis (pineapple lilies), zephyranthes and habranthus (rain lilies), crinum (crinum lilies), lycoris (surprise or hurricane lilies), hedychium (ginger lilies), and hymenocallis (spider lilies). Not only are we plant nuts ourselves, but we are fortunate to work with breeders and plant specialists around the world to bring you some of the rarest and most wonderful geophytes.
Since 1988, Plant Delights Nursery has been the choice of serious gardeners and plant collectors looking for the best and rarest perennial plants. We are pleased to have received the Perennial Plant Association Retail Award in 2011, the American Horticulture Society Commercial Award in 2002, and to have been selected as one of the Best Mail Order Plant Sources - Garden Design Magazine 2010. Welcome to our family of plant lovers!
Yes, it's another of the amazing hardy gloxinias from South America. Sinningia sellovii is composed of thick, light green, sandpaper-like leaves on an arching clump that can reach 20" in height. Atop the plant in midsummer are 3' arching spikes of pendent scarlet-orange bells...a hummingbird favorite. We grow our plants in a full sun-baked rock garden, where they thrive with good drainage...very easy. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This superb Brazilian collection of Sinningia speciosa, the parent of the modern florist gloxinia, has been reliably hardy for us, provided it is grown in well-drained soil. The fuzzy olive-green leaves form a flat rosette, topped in July and August with a cluster of foxglove-like flowers atop 6" stalks. Each flower is white with a dramatic dark blue-purple interior. Our best results have been in sites with 2 to 4 hours of full sun. Where Sinningia 'Carangola' isn't hardy, it makes an easy-to-grow, outstanding potted specimen! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This new PDN introduction started its life when gesneriad expert John Farina crossed two sinningia hybrids, Sinningia 'Krezdorn Yellow' x Sinningia 'Apricot Bouquet', and subsequently sent us a packet of seed. After 3 years of garden trials, we christened Sinningia 'Towering Inferno' as the first introduction from the seedlings. Sinningia 'Towering Inferno' emerges from a dormant tuber in spring, producing huge 4' tall flowering spikes, adorned with thick, fuzzy green leaves and topped with bright red dangling tubular flowers. For us, Sinningia 'Towering Inferno' starts flowering in mid-June and continues well into October. A site in bright full sun for at least half a day is necessary...even in hot climates. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Available 6-20-2013
(aka: Sinningia longituba) One of the real joys of gardening is finding a plant that you think can't be hardy and then discovering that it becomes an easy-to-grow staple in your garden. Such is the case with the hardy gloxinia, Sinningia tubiflora. Forming large underground tubers, Sinningia tubiflora not only lives, but spreads nicely in our rock garden. All summer long, the green, felty leaf clumps are topped with 2' tall spikes of 6" long, very fragrant, pure white flowers...somewhat resembling Hosta plantaginea. The hummingbirds and visitors alike go nuts when they see this in our gardens. You must grow this plant, even if you have to use containers in the North. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This native perennial forms a mat of thick rhizomes just below the surface, giving rise in spring to upright arching stalks clothed with thumb-sized green leaves. In late spring, the upright, arching stalks of Smilacina racemosa terminate with a gorgeous spike of white flowers, eventually changing into a cluster of green, then red berries as fall approaches. False Solomon's seal is striking in the woodland garden when used en masse or as a background for ferns and hostas. Our native false Solomon's seal was named by the UK's Royal Horticultural Society as one of the top 200 plants of the last 200 years...not bad for a plant from the new world! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Available 5-30-2013 (syn: Maianthemum stellatum) I'm fascinated as to why this native groundcover isn't more widely cultivated...especially considering that it's native to all of the continental US except the southeastern "gang of 8," from NC across to Texas. Smilacina stellata makes a tough groundcover with 20" stems arising from the underground rhizomes. Each stem is clothed with 15-18 blue-green leaves that are spirally arranged around the stem. From mid-April until mid-May, the stalks are topped with short but attractive spikes of small white flowers. Although Smilacina stellata loves moisture, it is incredibly drought-tolerant. This selection is from the Indiana Dunes region. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
The Aztec lily is one of those plants that is so spectacular and reliable, we can't imagine gardening without it. What appears to be a tender woodland plant is, in fact, native to rock outcrops in the Mexican mountains. For us, Sprekelia formosissima has performed best in our dry rock scree in full baking sun. For those in the Deep South, some afternoon shade is best. Sprekelia formosissima bulbs multiply well to make a nice clump of narrow green leaves, which burst into flower in early April and continue through May. After a summer rest, sprekelia usually reflower in the fall. The 6" brilliant red flowers most closely resemble a delicate hippeastrum...truly stunning! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
These stunning, but little-known bulbs were first imported to the US by renowned plantsman, Thomas Jefferson...you've heard of him, no doubt. In late September through October, the flowers emerge from the dormant bulbs, opening as bright yellow goblets less than 6" from the ground. When the flowers finally finish, they are replaced by a small mound of shiny green foliage that will persist until the warm weather of spring. Sternbergia lutea seems to prefer a moist, well-drained site and lots of neglect. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(aka: Sauromatum giganteum) Typhonium giganteum is a rare Chinese aroid that is a must for collectors of the weird and wonderful. In early summer, the long, nearly white petioles emerge from the tuber to produce 1' long, green, arrowhead-shaped leaves. In midsummer, a truly bizarre 10" tall flower spike emerges on a short stalk at ground level. Each inflorescence is an upright, light purple pitcher with a velvety black lining. From the interior of the pitcher emerges the black "presidential" spadix. The giant voodoo lily does have a memorable fragrance for about a day...how else would an insect be lured to have sex in there? For over a decade we grew these in light shade where they performed well, but when we planted a patch in full sun, they exploded into growth like never before. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
(syn: Typhonium blumei) "Honey...I shrunk the amorphophallus." Thanks to Jim Waddick for sharing this stunning and easy-to-grow little aroid that is completely unknown to all but the most devout plant geeks. The glossy green, hastate-shaped leaves emerge in June to make a small, 1' tall (with age) x 1' wide clump. After the leaves emerge, Typhonium roxburghii begins producing flowers like a limp, dwarf Amorphophallus konjac, with an equally interesting aroma. This is a great specimen subject for the woodland garden. If you have neighbors that you hate, plant one near their open window for a great laugh! We previously offered this under the incorrect name of Typhonium divaricatum. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This stunning xAmarcrinum (hybrid of Amaryllis belladonna x Crinum) originated as an open pollinated (result of wild, unprotected sex) seedling in a Fresno, California garden. It was subsequently spotted and named after its conception method by bulb collector, Herb Kelly, around 1980. The 20" tall spikes of flowers, which open pale pink and quickly change to pure white, start for us in late summer and continue until fall. This is a rarely-offered gem, available only in limited quantities. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
xAmarcrinum is one of those rare man-made wonders rivaling the Great Pyramids! This bigeneric hybrid of Amaryllis belladonna x Crinum moorei produced one of the most fabulous bulbous perennials for the South. The short, glossy, strap-like leaves to 18" give rise in the hottest part of summer to 2' stalks, each topped with 6-8 large, lovely pink, exquisitely fragrant flowers. As soon as one stalk finishes flowering, another emerges, and this flowering pattern continues until frost. In colder climates, xAmarcrinum makes a superb potted specimen! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
This introduction from California's famed Western Hills Nursery forms upright clumps composed of large, hastate, white-spotted leaves that, for us, reach 3' or taller when mature. We have not found this to grow as large as Zantedeschia 'White Giant'. In late spring, Zantedeschia 'Hercules' clumps are topped with 4' tall spikes ending in a large white chalice. Our plants are from the clone that has been grown for years at Strybing Arboretum. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
As we headed to the top of South Africa's famed West Cape Swartberg Pass, we stopped at 4,300' elevation when we saw a patch of Zantedeschia aethiopica growing in a wet seep along the steep mountain cliffs. Of several seedlings from different locations on our month long trek, this clone stood out in our trials for its luscious, tropical-looking, 21" long, heavily ruffled, dark green leaves and insanely huge 7" white flowers, starting in April (NC). For us, the clumps have topped out at just over 4' tall, while the flowers reach 4.5' in height. This is a truly impressive selection, although our quantities are somewhat limited...a 2013 Plant Delights introduction! Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
We first saw this giant calla at the California garden of plantsman/garden writer, Sonny Garcia, and were literally blown away. Lining the walkway were these giant, green and white speckled-leaved Zantedeschia aethiopica callas, whose foliage topped out above waist high. Even more amazing were the 6' tall flower stems towering above my head. The flower is the classic, large, creamy-white cup typical of the species...except Zantedeschia 'White Giant' has been doing some really good steroids. In our garden, we have only been able to muster 4' tall stems, 2' long x 1' wide foliage and 5.5' tall flower spikes, but that's still not bad. Keep in mind the height increases each year as the diameter of the tubers increase. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Zantedeschia 'Captain Camaro' is the latest in the Captain® series of tricked-out callas from Holland's Kapiteyn Breeding. Zantedeschia 'Captain Camaro' makes a clump of green foliage spotted with white flecks and edged in purple on emergence. The clumps are subsequently topped in late spring with 18" tall chalices of dark purple-black, edged with a pink flush. 'Captain Camaro' is an amazing specimen that can be mixed with gold and blue foliage plants for some killer combinations in the perennial garden. I cannot for the life of me figure out why this calla was named after a Chevrolet...hmmm. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Zantedeschia 'Captain Murano' is a 2010 release from Holland's Kapiteyn Breeding...the producers of the extensive Captain® Series of callas. Zantedeschia 'Captain Murano' produces white specked green leaves that serve as a foil for the 18" tall flower spikes in late spring. The flower spikes are then topped with pitchers (spathes) that are hot pink on top with an orange base, contrasted by a yellow spadix...seriously psychedelic! In the garden, slightly moist soils and part sun produce the best results. In climates north of Zone 7b, they can be lifted in fall and stored in peat moss during winter, where they are kept just above freezing. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
Zantedeschia 'Odessa' is a new calla lily hybrid with white-flecked glossy green leaves, topped in early summer with an abundance of glossy black purple chalice-like flowers on 20" tall spikes. We've got Zantedeschia 'Odessa' to trial for garden performance, and have a few extras for anyone else who'd like to join us. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
From Holland's Sande Breeding callas comes Zantedeschia 'Paco', with 18" tall flower stalks in late spring. Each floral pitcher has a lovely dark purple center with a mauvy pink border...very cool. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
We just love this amazing breakthrough in calla lily breeding from Holland's Cecilius Jan-Jochem Randag. Zantedeschia 'Picasso' is a robust grower, forming a 30" tall x 18" wide clump of large, white-spotted, arrow-shaped leaves. The clump is topped, starting in late May (NC) and continuing well through the summer, with up to two dozen 30" spikes, each ending in a vaaaze-shaped inflorescence of purple with a wide white lip...almost too sexy for our garden. Pot Size: 3.5" (24 fl. oz/709.77 ml)
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.jpg "xAmarcrinum 'Born Free' (Born Free Amarcrinum)")
.jpg "Zantedeschia 'Odessa' (Odessa Calla Lily)")
.jpg "Zantedeschia 'Paco' (Paco Calla Lily)")
