Ken Hall, who started gardening in the Lake District for Lord Lonsdale at Lowther Castle in the 1940s, was given a bulb of the vermilion Nerine ‘Meadowbankii’ in a pot more than 20 years ago. Once it flowered he was hooked. He still thinks ‘Meadowbankii’ is a good nerine for a beginner.

Mary Keen

Growing tips

The snag to these thrilling flowers is that they cannot be described as easy to grow. But if anyone can tell us how to make N. sarniensis perform, it is Ken Hall. He says that, with proper care, they will give many years of pleasure and colour in the right conditions. Unlike most forms of N. bowdenii, N. sarniensis must be grown under frost-free glass. A temperature of 8C-10C (46F-50F) is ideal, but the bulbs can survive short periods of freezing if they are in deep pots.

Because N. sarniensis is summer dormant, bulbs need to be kept dry during their resting period. You could put them outside, because they like to be in an airy place, but heavy rain, as we have had this year, would rot them.

Controlled watering is critical from April to August. The foliage matures early in the new year and, once it turns yellow and dies down, the nerines need just enough water to keep the bulbs plump. In hot sunny weather this might mean soaking the pots about once a fortnight, but a precise rule on the timing and amount of water will depend on the weather. Too much and the roots will rot, too little and they will shrivel.

Once the flower spikes begin to grow, which depends on the variety, watering must be increased and continue until the leaves have died down. But Ken Hall’s advice is that only really dry plants should be watered. A sunny place and good light is also important in winter, with as much ventilation as possible.

The formula for the compost used at Springbank is one part John Innes No 3, one part grit sand and two parts peat with 25g of Osmocote added to every 10 litres of compost. The bulbs go into 11cm pots with two-fifths of the bulb above the level of the compost. The pots do get extra rations of fertiliser (use one with high potash and low nitrogen, such as Tomorite) in the middle of the growing season.

The time for repotting is before regrowth starts, so July or early August is about right. Plants should not be left in old compost for more than a couple of years. Top-dress with fresh compost annually.

The tiny bulbs that appear round the main bulb can be carefully detached and potted up to make new plants, but nerines can also be grown from seed and will take up to four years to flower. Mealy bug is the worst pest under glass.

Good companions

These plants do not share the limelight. Impress visitors by showing them off in terracotta pots on a tiered stand in the conservatory, or on staging in the greenhouse.

Where to buy

• Springbank Nursery, Winford Road, Newchurch, Sandown, Isle of Wight, PO36 0JX (01983 865444). Bulbs are available by mail order between, June to August. Nursery open 9am-5.30pm daily.

For many years it was thought that nerines came from Japan, but their native home is, in fact, South Africa, especially the Drakensberg mountains. There are about 30 species, but only a couple are reliably hardy outdoors in the Britain — N. bowdenii and N. undulata.

The former can withstand freezing temperatures, as low as -15C. N. bowdenii bulbs were first brought to Britain from South Africa by Cornish Bowden in 1903, hence the name.

A number of species are grown under glass for cut flowers, especially in the Netherlands. Among them is N. sarniensis var. corusca ‘Major’ and the white-flowered N. flexuosa ‘Alba’. N. sarniensis became naturalised when a ship from Japan was wrecked on the coast of Guernsey in the 17th century.

Nerine bowdenii is a floral firework — a welcome flash of colour as the temperature drops and the days get shorter — that will brighten any garden.

Growing tips

The bulbs are quite large, elongated and shaped like old-fashioned Chianti bottles.

When buying bulbs, ensure that you get true, hardy N. bowdenii. Care taken when selecting a suitable spot in the garden will be repaid by rapid establishment and early flowering. Choose a sunny, well-drained spot such as the base of a south-facing wall. Nerines thrive in hot summers but struggle in cold, wet winters.

Opinion is divided about planting depth; some say that you need 6cm (2in) of soil above the bulb to protect from frost damage, others prefer the bulbs to half-emerge from the soil. A clump in my garden has flourished and multiplied for more than 20 years almost at the soil surface. Once planted, try not to disturb them — they like to grow in a dense clump. Don’t worry if the flowering is poor in the first year after planting, just be patient.

Bulbs should be planted in autumn or early winter, spaced 7-10cm apart. Give them a good mulch to protect from frost in the first year until they are fully established. In the wild, nerines grow in very poor soil. Plants grown in richer soil grow bigger with more leaves, but at the expense of flowers. A well-drained coarse, sandy soil, low in nitrogen, is recommended for a maximum number of iridescent blooms.

Good companions

Colchicums and cyclamens complement the height of the nerine flowers, provide a similarly coloured understorey and extend the period of interest in that part of the garden.

If the nerines are at the base of a south-facing wall, a star jasmine, such as Trachelospermum jasminioides, could provide long-term interest if planted between the nerines and the wall.

Star jasmine is an evergreen woody climber with glossy dark-green leaves that produces fragrant creamy-white flowers in mid to late summer, followed by long seed pods. In a cottage garden, nerines are sufficiently tall and bold to be added to a mixed border.