I think Jim Shields is referring to one of the "Princess Strain" hybrid alstroemerias that are now widely available in garden centers. They are suitable for containers and I have an attractive one in my solarium. It is evergreen and has a long flowering period. Judging from the succulent, shiny foliage, it is closely descended from A. pelegrina, which is coastal and probably quite tender. I tried four other selections outdoors, and one of them barely survived a winter here but the others died. At 10:36 AM 5/8/2008 -0400, you wrote: >Hi all, > >We bought some small potted plants for the deck a year ago. Included was a >small Alstroemeria hybrid that turned out to be evergreen. It seems that >there are some hybrids on the market now that will stay green and perhaps >even flowering all year round. This is almost a dwarf, less than a foot (30 >cm) tall as I recall. > >I moved the planter into the greenhouse in autumn and let it go completely >dry, expecting to have to nurse it through a dormant period. The >Alstroemeria alone continued to stay green and tried to grow. Finally, I >dug it out, divided it into 4 pieces, and replanted it into the container. >I started watering it almost immediately, and it is growing and flowering >again.