When I first moved into the Uilkraals Valley I was amazed to find so many Amaryllis belladonna (March lily) flowering all over the valley. I had never seen this species flowering on Grootbos or in the Walker Bay region (which is just over the hill), yet it is a common site to see fields of this beauty during late February and March in our valley. At first I thought it was an escapee from gardens, as I observed most of them around old farm houses, but I have subsequently found many growing naturally in the wilds. I was out walking my dogs yesterday when I came across this field of Amaryllis.
A close up reveals the beauty of this wonderous plant that, like other members of the Amaryllis family, flowers at the driest time of the year. It has a narcissus-scented pink flower and grows in loamy to sandy soils in the lowlands of the South western Cape.
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