This species does come from a summer-rainfall part of South Africa, growing and flowering in summer and going dormant and dry in winter, so would need special treatment in mediterranean climates.
The same is true for the much more commonly grown Eucomis comosa - which grows and self-seeds perfectly happily in our UK garden, but would be useless in our Greek one.
The only Eucomis species which should theoretically suit mediterranean climates is Eucomis regia, which does come from the winter-rainfall area of South Africa. A South African friend very kindly sent me some seed of this years ago, and I did plant out the single surviving bulb in an unwatered part of our Greek garden, but it died. In the wild it is found in relatively cool places, so I suspect that I killed it by putting it out in too hotly exposed a position, and if I ever have another chance I'll find a much more sheltered spot for it.
I wonder if anyone has hybridised Eucomis regia with any of the other species such as Eucomis vandermerwei, and if so whether any of the offspring are, like regia, winter-growing?
