Shine bright like a diamond

If Nerine sarniensis is the diamond or jewel lily, then Nicholas de Rothschild’s purpose-built glasshouse is the best place to see it in all its shimmering glory

- Mark Griffiths

Exbury Gardens, Southampton, Hampshire

ONE of the main qualities I look for,’ says Nicholas de Rothschild, ‘is sparkle.’ He certainly finds it. Never before have I seen blooms shimmer and scintillate like the thousands of flowers that surround us. They are cultivars and hybrids of Nerine sarniensis. Many have been bred, selected and named by Mr de Rothschild and all are lovingly tended by him and his colleague Theo Herselman in a vast, purpose-built glasshouse at Exbury Gardens in Hampshire. ‘You can see why some people prefer to call N. sarniensis the diamond or jewel lily,’ he continues, ‘although, of course, it’s far better known as the Guernsey lily.’

Frost-tender, but tough and long-lived, this autumn-flowering bulb is native to South Africa, where it’s confined to rocky mountainsides in the Western Cape. In wild plants, the blooms are usually scarlet, vermilion or orange and, rarely, pale pink or white.

Countless shades of these colours are to be seen in Exbury’s glasshouse, but the staging also throngs with flowers in hues that one would never have thought possible in a nerine: ruby and amethyst, deep violet striped with cerise, pale lavender, peaches and cream, burgundy, copper and bronze.