The name derives from the Dutch babianer «babuino». The genus is known in the regions of South Africa, of which it is original, with the term "babu plant", perhaps due to the fact that these animals are fond of its tubers.
It includes herbaceous, bulbous, semi-virus plants, whose very beautiful, sonorous flowers come together to form a sword with a wide range of colors ranging from red to blue, from yellow to pink. The blooming takes place in the late spring, in a greenhouse, where it is usually grown; however, in winter mite areas, it can
also live outdoors, well protected in the most sheltered corners of the garden.
Cultivated species:
Babiana disticha received a height of 15 cm, are of a pale blue color and open in late spring; Babiana ringens, slightly higher than the previous one, blooms in June with scarlet flowers; B. stricta, at most 20 cm high, normally has lilac or crimson flowers, but it is easy to find
varieties with yellow or blue flowers; it blooms in May-June.
Cultivation:
Babiana is an easy-to-grow plant that prefers sandy soil. It is generally grown in pots of 12-15 cm in diameter, where 4 or 5 bulbs are placed and a distance of 6 cm from each other, in the month of November. Care should be taken not to give too much water, because this plant fears excessive humidity; after the blooming, the watering will become even more sparse and when the leaves are communicated and yellowed, they are used to extract from the ground the bulbs to keep them in a cool and dry place until the end of the following autumn.
The Babiana has the singular characteristic of having flowers that open from the bottom and spaced over time, while they all wither together simultaneously, giving the impression that the plant was caught by a sudden illness.
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