On Aug 29, 5:10 pm, La Puce wrote:
On 29 Aug, 06:57, " wrote: I grew up in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) and the Gloriosa Surperba,
( there are three varieties) the Rothchildiana comes from central
Africa where the Surperba and the Simplex more south) was at the time
the national flower.

(snip)

Hullo Dawn. I bought a gloriosa rothchildiana at the RHS Tatton show a
few weeks ago and planted it, in the ground, in a closed veranda, a
green house really but with a wall into the house (never know how to
describe this set up). The flowers have died now but I have 2 seed
heads and a few buds coming on. A couple of friends advised me not to
let it go to seeds, so that the bulb won't depleate the nutrients it
has for next year. Do you know if I should remove them because I don't
really want to since I love seeds and I'm currious to see if I can sow
them on (I was successful with seeds from a protea). What would you
do. Thank you.

Hi
I let the plant die back naturally, I do not cut off the seed heads
until the stalk is completely dead. Depending on how warm and dry the
atmosphere is will determine how long you sit with this unsightly
display in your flower bed. Once the stalk is dead right to ground
level it just pulls out of the ground with very little effort. Then if
the seed pods have not burst open entirely just lay them in a safe
place until they are very dry and have burst open to reveal the lovely
little red seeds. The seeds will shrivel with storing and also darken
slightly in colour. You can then plant them when you want. I think
letting them die back naturally is the thing that returns the
nutrients to the plants. I'm not an expert but self taught on this as
my Gloriosa's always come back year after year. I have even cut off
seed pods before dying back to give to friends and it has never seemed
to affect the plant. But if you only have one plant it is advisable to
let it die back then cut it off the stem. You didnt ask this , but I
would like to add that if you pollinate them yourself when they are in
flower you yield much bigger seed pods than normal. You can do this by
rubbing off a little pollen onto your finger then wipe it off onto the
little green tail which splits into three, that appears at the base of
the flower. You will have great success with Gloriosa seeds, I have.
The first year they come up dont expect them to do too much, but the
following year you should have nice sturdy plants that will give you
flowers. Hope this will help you
Dawn