Planting Tricyrtis Fall Bulbs

YOLANDA VANVEEN: Hi, this is Yolanda Vanveen on behalf of Expert Village. In this series, we're learning all about fall-blooming flower bulbs. One of my favorite fall-blooming bulbs is Tricyrtis. And they come in different colors, burgundy, and this particular one is called Formosana, and it's a beautiful purple color. And I love them because they're very gothic. Even through the summer, they have a nice bush with little black spots on green leaves, so they look really interesting. And then all of a sudden in the fall, a big orchid-like stem will come up with beautiful purple spots on white. And they're just a gorgeous plant. And they do great in shade but they'll also do sun. They grow almost anywhere, but they do like a lot of moisture. And Tricyrtis are just a root so they're related to Lily of the Valley. They multiply quickly, but more compactly. They don't really take over and they're just easy to grow. It looks kinda like asparagus root. So as long as that tip is up or sideways, it'll work its way up. I only plant 'em about 3 inches deep, but the trick with these is you've got to water 'em really well the first summer so that the roots gets established. Once the roots are established, you really can't lose 'em. They're a beautiful plant, especially with hostas and ferns. They come up with a big orchid-like stem in the fall. The blooms last a month or two. Great cut flower and they're easy to grow. You'll never lose 'em once you get them going. In our next segment, we'll talk about Crocosmia Lucifer.