Duck Egg Blue Ixia Amethsytina

The striking flower colouring is hard to describe and beautiful to behold.

The blooms open in groups of up to 20 on tall stems, to around 90cm. They sway in the breeze creating gorgeous movement. The foliage is grass like and upright, stretching 40-50cm below the blooms.

Commonly known as Duck Egg Blue, Amethystine Ixia or Turquoise Ixia.

It will flower in late spring, usually just after the other Ixias have finished. The colour will be at its best when paired with dark leafed foliage such as the black leafed Canna’s, Cotinus, Flax, Artemisia ‘Guizhou’ or Anthiscus ‘Raven’s Wing’.

Endemic to South Africa, which means it grows well in our similar Australian conditions. They thrive in hot dry summers, with wet springs. Plant in clumps or drifts or at the rear of a border. They like any well drained soil, but will rot in soggy soils. Best left to naturalise, flowers will increase as the bulbs settle in. Plant where they will be protected for strong winds. The seed is viable and can be kept and planted in spring. They can also produce offsets from corms. They are ‘expensive’ because they don’t produce a lot of offsets from the corms and they take two to four years to come into flower from seed.