Alstroemeria 'Spitfire'
Words: Graham Rice
It’s not often that plant receives the prestigious Award of Garden Merit both for its foliage and for its flowers. And one of the least likely plants you’d expect to show top class in both those features would be Alstroemeria. But following the trial at the RHS Garden at Wisley which finished last year Alstroemeria ‘Spitfire’ has indeed gained the award for both features.
So from the moment the shoots peep through in the spring, the plant looks good. Every leaf is neatly margined in slightly creamy white and at first the plant looks very much like a hosta with its neat mound of narrow, dark green, overlapping, variegated foliage. It reminded me of Hosta ‘Patriot’. 'Very clean-cut variegation, gives a punch to the plant. Variegation is 100% stable,' said the assessment panel. That’s important; no stray all-green shoots that would take over the plant.
Then the stems stretch and the plant flowers. Each flower is bright red with a yellow flash at the base of the upper petals and a neat pattern of dark whiskers.
As well as making a fine plant for a sunny border, ‘Spitfire’ also makes an excellent long lasting cut flower whose variegated foliage adds a little extra to the display.
I was a member of the assessment panel for the Alstroemeria trial and I thought this was perhaps the best plant in the whole trial. It’s so much more than a flowering plant with good foliage, or a foliage plant that flowers. As the double award demonstrates, the quality of both the foliage and the flowers is outstanding.