How to grow Nerine (Guernsey Lily)

Nerine bowdenii

🌸 Flower 🔁 Perennial

Starry, shocking-pink flowers on bare stems in October — a burst of colour when the garden is fading. Flowers best crowded at the foot of a sunny wall.

At a glance: Sow mid March to mid May.

When to sow, plant and harvest

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Sow outdoors

Flowers

Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.

Growing Nerine (Guernsey Lily): what it needs

Light: Full sun · 6+ hours a day
Watering: Water pots in dry spells while in leaf; keep drier when dormant
Soil: Well-drained soil or bulb compost
Spacing: 10 cm
Height: 45 cm
In pots: Grows well in containers
Feeding: Tomato feed every two weeks from when the leaves appear
Hardiness: USDA zones 7–10

Step by step

Mid March – mid May · 4 weeks before the last spring frost
Plant Bulbs
Plant so the neck sits just at the surface deep and 10 cm apart, pointy end up, in well-drained soil or pots. Water in.
30–90 days after “Plant Bulbs” · Mid April – mid June
Look for Shoots
Green shoots should be showing. Keep pots moist but not wet and watch for slugs on young leaves.

Every year

March
Feed the Leaves
Give a high-potash feed while the leaves grow; leave them until they yellow in summer.
October
In Flower
Pink nerines in flower — take a photo.
November
Winter Protection
Cover the bulbs with a dry mulch of bark or straw in cold areas.