Endangered Leopard Lilies thriving at Exbury

The lovely Leopard Lily, endangered in its native South Africa, is thriving at Exbury Gardens in the New Forest, where one of the world's largest collections of these unusual plants is kept.

Beautiful and exotic, these tender plants, collected by Nicholas de Rothschild, are on display in Exbury's Five Arrows Gallery until the end of March.

Leopard Lilies (Lachenalia) grow from bulbs which flower from late autumn through the early spring. The delicate spotting or mottling on the leaves of some species, like that of a leopard's coat, has given rise to the popular name.

The Exbury collection, which encompasses many different species and hybrids, is comprehensive, showing a range of colour and form, from the golden L. aloides through to others with magenta, coral, yellow, blue, purple and pink bell-like flowers.

Exbury now has a fine Lachenalia collection, which this year, for the first time, is on show in the Gardens' Five Arrows Gallery until 28 March.

"I'm very proud of this collection of bulbs which could become endangered in the wild," said Nick de Rothschild, whose family owns Exbury Gardens.

"There are about 120 species of lachenalia, which come from southern Africa. We don't have all those species but visitors to Exbury before the end of March will see a good variety of these lovely plants. I believe it is the first time that a collection of this size has been displayed anywhere in the world," he said.

Nick de Rothschild has also built up a collection of 'diamond lilies', the spectacular brilliantly coloured Nerine sarniensis, which are displayed at Exbury throughout October.

Exbury Gardens are open daily until November 9th. Please see www.Exbury.co.uk for details.