Gloriosa superba is a show-off of a flower in flaming variations of scarlet, orange, hot pink and yellow. Commonly known as the flame lily, this exotic beauty is no shrinking violet. In a cut-flower arrangement, gloriosa is a stunner, with wavy petals shaped like long fingers curving into a loose fist.
A tuberous perennial vine native to Africa and Asia, it also grows like a weed in South Louisiana's muggy-hot summers.
To prove that point, Jeanette Bell held up a bud vase with two gloriosas and pointed to a chain-link fence lining the perimeter of her Central City garden. It was a humid morning in late July with a ceiling of gray clouds threatening rain. Along the fence, gloriosas added a riot of color.
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