Sandersonia tubers are a unique, new, and exciting crop, fitting right in with Oregon Coastal Flower’s product line. Sandersonia aurantiaca tubers produce flower stems with distinct orange bell shaped flowers. Sandersonia bulbs are difficult to find and Oregon Coastal Flowers supplements their own production with sandersonia tubers from the world’s best bulb growers.

Although this specialty flower bulb is a mystery to many, sandersonia bulbs have been grown and sold by Oregon Coastal Flowers since 1998. Sandersonia bulbs have been distributed to gardens across America with astonishing success.

Sandersonia bulbs are hardy in zones eight and nine. In cooler climates the bulbs will need to be dug up in fall after full senescence and stored in cool, moist peat moss over the winter. Sandersonia bulbs require a chilling period during storage, so it is important not to store them in a warm place, but rather a cool garage. It is also important, however, that the sandersonia bulbs do not freeze.

Sanderersonia tubers are relative to the lily family and therefore require high light levels and warm temperatures to germinate, flower, and bulk up for the following season. It is important to have well draining soil media as tubers will not survive wet, water-logged soils.

Tubers should be planted horizontally (laying flat) with the growing tip 2-3 inches below the surface. Sandersonia should be planted where they are protected from the wind, however, if not may require netting or support of some kind. The larger the tuber planted, the taller the flower stem as well as an increase in orange bells. The larger the tuber the more bells.

Sandersonia bulbs are a fork tuber with two legs. At the tip of the leg is the growth tip. Therefore each bulb has the potential for two flowers, however, on a field average, they produce only about 1.6 flowers per tuber. The tip produces a wiry stem that on the plant can last up to 6 weeks. The bottom bells turn orange first and continue coloring as the buds open up to the top.

As a cut flower, sandersonia flowers can last up to 4 weeks, however, by cutting the flower from the plant, the bulb will be smaller than what you started with. By not cutting the flower, the bulb will be much larger than what you started with.

After flowering, the growth tip produces another fork tuber. So each mother sandersonia bulb (fork tuber) produces 2 additional daughter sandersonia bulbs. In other words, sandersonia bulbs will double in numbers each year.

Z Callas supplies sandersonia tubers from around the world to cut flower growers and gardeners across America. Unlock the mystery of the sandersonia bulb and their orange bell shaped flowers!

You can order anytime throughout the year, however, we ship from February/March through May/June depending on availability.