Blood lily

An unusual summer-flowering bulb Scadoxus produces large spherical flower heads made up of lots of tiny starry blooms. These are fiery red with gold anthers. It used to be known as haemanthus, which translates from the greek words haima or blood and anthos or flower, this also explain its common name of blood flower, a description probably resulting from the colour of its blooms. It is a rhizomatous perennial that produces several leaves that join together at the base to form a fleshy stem which holds the flowers later in the year. It likes shady conditions but is not frost hardy so is best grown in large pots and moved outside during the summer months.