Through my garden gate

The paintbrush lily is a prolific flowering bulb in the Amaryllis family that grows and flourishes in my Fallbrook garden. The Haemanthus species originates in the coastal regions of South Africa with a vast array of colorful indigenous bulbs.

The Cape Floral Region is a botanical anomaly and is home to more bulbous plants than anywhere else in the world. The Cape region alone has over 9,000 species of different plants in that small region, whereas California has about 6,300 varied native plants throughout the state in its database.

Haemanthus were the first bulbs from South Africa transported...