What is Watsonia?
Watsonia is a member of the family of flowering plants iridaceae or Iris. Its common name is Bugle Lily. There are 52 Watsonia species that are originally from South Africa. Watsonia has a root structure of the Corm with upright stems, which average 2-3 feet (about 0.6 to 0.9 m) high. They produce bugle -shaped flowers in different colors. Watsonia was introduced to Australia as a decorative garden plant at the beginning of the 20th century and is now listed as an invasive species in this country. Often confused for the iris and similar appearance as gladiola, the lily flowers were originally red, pink and white. Over the years, breeders have developed several Watsonia varieties with orange, yellow and coral colorful flowers.
Watsonia is a Corm plant. Corm is a specialized stem of plants that grows underground, stores water and nutrients for the plant. Roots grow during the growing season. During the growing season, the CORM can decrease as the plant grows and uses its resources. The easiest way to fistOvat Watsonia is to break a piece of corm. Corms contain nodes that develop into leaves, stems and buds and create a new plant.
plants prefer full sun and can tolerate hot weather. Watsonia reproduces quite quickly and easily expands to empty spaces. Because CORMS can be used as a water storage system, Watsonia can withstand unpredictable precipitation and dry conditions.
introduced to the Australian gardens in the 19th century, Watsonia is now growing wild in many parts of this country, especially along rivers and seasonal wetlands. It is considered to be an invasive species in that it excludes plants that are from the continent. In large concentrations, it is considered to be a risk of fire that can lead to fires. Methods of protection for removal of watsonia from the Australian landscape include the use of animals to pastry on plants. Cattle eat young growth and pigs can dig and eat corms.
wAtsonia also becomes an increasingly popular garden plant around the world. They should be planted in a depth of 4 inches (about 10 cm) in the autumn. Watsonia generally blooms in spring and early summer.
Flower stems can be quite high and heavy with the flowers, so it is common practice to bet Watsonia. Next to the plant are placed bets made of wood, plastic or metal and heavy stems are attached to the bets that hold them in a vertical position. Motus, coated wire or any variety of specialized bonds can be used to ensure stalks for bets.