Babiana stricta or the Baboon Flower is a vigorous, bulbous plant with hairy, ribbed leaves and spikes which carry the very attractive cup shaped flowers aloft.
These violet, magenta or mauvey-blue coloured, funnel-shaped flowers are not unlike freesias or even mini gladioli and they die back in summer to flower again in spring. There are white varieties too.
They grow particularly well in pots indoors or in a greenhouse but are OK outdoors in warmer climates like the Eastern Coast of Australia.
Best grown in clumps, they go well between shrubs and amongst perennials at path edge and in mixed borders.