Alstroemeria plants for the garden
These are growing instructions with a bit of history too. Pictures coming later.

Here is a bit of history of how a very pretty wild flower from South America came to be a major cut flower and later the wonderful garden bloomer for our relatively frost free Southern California gardens. [Please note that if you are reading this and live where it gets really cold and freezing in winter, this writer Evelyn , has lived her whole life in mild California and knows nothing about growing in the snow.].
Alstroemerias are all native to South America, mostly Chile and Brazil. There are about 50 species and they are all in the Amaryllis family. In their native state they are pretty but nothing like what we see today as a cut flower or a garden plant. So how did the rangy native with the pretty flower get to where it is today?
Many years ago the Dutch company by the name of Royal van Zanten started working on this group of plants. They collected wild plants, hybridized for years and eventually had some wonderful Alstroemerias. One of the most common Alsroemeria questions that Weidners Gardens gets is: Why can't I buy a garden Alstroemeria with floweres that are the same bright yellow or gorgeous white or red shades seen in the flower shop?You need to know that this company is a very large company and works mostly in cut flowers for the florist. In working with Alstroemerias their goal was beautiful flowers and long sturdy stems. They never wanted all their work to end up in your garden. We'll talk more about that at the end of this page.

Most important to you are the following growing instructions.
You most likely bought your Alstroemeria in bloom and ready to go into your garden. Go ahead and plant it. Alstroemerias love sun and a good well drained soil. If you have clay soil it will be more difficult to be successful. Too much shade will give you plants that are tall and floppy with weak stems.

Alstroemerias also enjoy a good level of fertilizer and plenty of regular watering.Keep feeding your plants all during their growing season. Keep them watered. If you let your plants go too dry the foliage will turn an ugly yellow and look terrible. You can cut the entire plant down to about 4 to 8 inches above the ground, start being a better care-giver and usually your plant will regrow again.
Your Alstroemeria should bloom most of the spring and summer. It's important to pick the flowers. After all this is a wonderful cut flower that lasts for days and days in your bouquet. You can either pull the flower stem straight up or cut it off. Growers give both methods. Be sure to get rid of the stems that have formed seed pods. The seeds will take up energy. Alstroemerias multiply rapidly through underground rizome like tubers. They can really grow sideways in your garden. In a pot they can quickly get too big and either break the pot or come right out of the top.
Another point that most gardeners don't really know is that Alstroemerias have two kinds of growth. The first growth to appear is what I call support growth. It doesn't make flowers. This growth is shorter and thinner than the flower stems that come up later. If you have too much of this support growth you can just thin it out by pulling them up. Not all of them, of course. If you look carefully at a plant that has flowers you will see that the flower stems are taller, thicker, have more space between the nodes[the place where little leaves come out] and of course they have flowers. The other growth is none of these things. First comes the support growth and then the flowers spikes appear. That's the way it works.
At the end of the season when winter comes your Alstroemerias will disappear. Totally!!! They are sleeping beneath the ground. Mark those areas so that you don't dig them up when you are planting.
Other helpful hints. Snails....oh boy!!!..Slugs and snails love your Alstroemerias. Put out snail bait or hand pick. Don't forget that there is that wonderful new non-toxic snail bait, Sluggo. It really works.
Divide and replant in late summer or fall. Dig the clump of roots and shake off the soil. Keep the strongest of the whitish rizomes and roots. Throw away the wimpy ones. Replant, water in and leave them alone. Some gardeners tell me that they get only support growth and not flower spikes. I am not a real expert but I think that this is a sign that they really need to get busy in the fall and redo their Alstroemerias.
Alstroemerias can freeze. If you have the occasional heavy frost you need to cover your plants in winter with a good thick layer of dry straw, shavings or other mulch cover.

Now to the story of why you cannot buy all the varieties for your garden. Royal vanZanten company in the Netherlands have put in years and years of work and money into developing the Alstroemeria of today. They have patent protection on their varieties and collect royalty payments each year from flower growers. Today they actually lease the plants to the growers. They are very good at making sure that the growers don't sell or give away any of the plants. When we bought a piece of greenhouse land a few years ago the former owner grew cut alstroemerias. The company reps came out and counted the plants. We had to destroy all the plants and show proof that we had done that.
The new yellow and white colors are very much protected and of course van Zanten does not want you to have them in YOUR garden. Then you wouldn't have to buy the cut flowers. Why haven't the other breeders brought out the same color for the garden? Believe me, they are trying but the yellow species are harder to work with and the Dutch company now sterilizes the new varieties so you can't even steal the pollen. Wow!! Some times you will find a few tall cut flower varieties that have be snuck out or you will find the original species in yellows. The species varieties are very weak and die easily.

Back to the Dutch breeders.
How ever the Dutch did finally realize that the old horses were totally out of the barn and they have come out with their own Alstroemerias for you the gardening public. These have some yellow shades along with other very good colors. This series is called the Princess series. They are also genetically dwarf varieties. This means they stay short and can be grown in pots. We sell both kinds. The Princess series is wonderful as low front color and make good cut flowers even if they are short. Why did they do them this short? Do make a pot Alstroemeria. Remember they are doing global marketing. Most parts of our globe do freeze. There is a market for a 'Pot Alstroemeria'. That's the market that they are looking to. One of these days some one will come out with the full range of colors at the right height for the home garden. Until then, enjoy the colors you can find and keep on picking those gorgeous blooms.