I have a large number of each of these and a couple of species of both as well as several forms of both. They are easy to grow for me in containers so you should not have a problem. I imported almost all of mine as I wanted large mature bulbs so have not bought many here in the US (the only species I bought in the US is B. haemanthoides from Guy Wrinkle) so am not real familiar with the best place to buy them in the US to be honest. If you search Boophane on the Amaryllis forum you can see pics of several of my large bulbs. Boophane disticha is on ebay all the time. Do not worry about buying an imported bulb....Boophane are insanely easy to get to grow new roots. Best of luck with your search :o) Dan

Have you tried the Pacific bulb society? Someone there could send you in the right direction. There's a free email server you could join to ask your question, or direct your question to the website, or join the society and really get into some bulb trouble! Here is a link that might be useful: PBS homepage

Frank, How these plants grow in nature is a huge clue about how to grow them in cultivation. Many of these species plants do not tolerate much other than their natural conditions which need to be replicated as much as possible to grow successfully, this is a big reason these are rare in cultivation. While this genus isn't difficult to grow you must obey their dormancy schedule which is fully dependent on the location the plant was founded in nature. Your plant will tell you when it wants to sleep and when it does stop watering completely. Some Boophone species/specimens grow in desert areas with a winter dormancy but depending on which plant you get they may be summer dormant in the Southern Hemisphere and would require a summer dormancy here as well. Long days and warmer temps will cause the plant to begin dormancy. If you give Boophone species too much organic fertilizer or organics in the medium they will rot at a very fast rate. They also need very large containers considering they have a very long, perennial root run. Boophone haemanthoides is a species primarily from winter rainfall regions so will require a summer dormancy irregardless of the hemisphere. Some specimens of Boophone disticha has undulate leaves, on the link I posted above there is a picture of a plant in nature towards the bottom. Overall, this is a very beautiful and rewarding plant that can be easily grow, the scapes house around 100 flowers that are scented and the leaves are beautiful too.

Jeffrey I know this plant well. It grows wild around Johannesburg where I live and is found throughout the summer rainfall areas of SA. It is known here as the sore-eye lily or poison bulb. If the flowers are held close to the eyes for too long the eyes get sore (supposedly, never tried it!). The bulb is deciduous and the inflorescens with pink to red flowers emerges before the leaves or sometime together with the strap-shaped leaves in early summer. Apparently flowering is induced by fire. If you want to replicate this then do not remove the leaves when they die down at the end of the growing season and burn the dried leaves on the plant in early spring, the bulb will not be damaged. Don't pile wood on the bulb and light it because such a fire will be too hot. Veld fires in the grassveld areas of SA are fairly cool (as far as fire goes) and burn quickly. The leaves are arranged in a fan-like manner at the crown of the bulb. It does occur in grassland and bushveld areas that are adapted to regular wild fires. The inflorescens when dried almost looks like a tumbleweed and in fact the seeds are spread in this manner. Johannesburg has cold winters with frost, so the plant should be able to survive in colder areas but I am not sure if it will survive prolonged cold periods with snow. It very very rarely snows in Johannesburg and the temperature rarely goes below -5 degrees celcius. It should be planted with at least half the bulb above the soil surface. It should also not be moved once planted since this will discourage flowering, so don't dig it up, rather plant it in a pot with a well-drained soil. Also don't water after its leaves have died down, it will rot. It is also fairly drought-resistant so it does not require much water in the growing season. Regards Charles