How to Grow a Flamingo Lily (Anthurium Andreanum)

Remove the flamingo lily from its pot and gently lay it on a worktable covered with newspaper.

Cut through the large clump of leaves at the base of the plant with a clean, sharp knife, dividing the clump in two and making sure that each part contains a healthy amount of the root structure. Examine the roots and cut off any dead ones -- they will be black and soft.

Pot up the two divisions to grow as houseplants. For best results, mix your own growing medium with about 40 percent commercial potting soil and the remainder made up of equal parts peat moss, perlite and commercial orchid mix to ensure that the plant has good drainage. Place the houseplants in an area that gets bright light, but not full sun.

Plant the flamingo lily sections in your garden if you live in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 10 and above, which includes the southernmost parts of Texas, Florida and California. Choose a spot with indirect light and dig a hole slightly larger than the root structure in well-draining soil rich in compost, to mimic its natural habitat in the rain forest. Insert the plant, spreading out the roots, and backfill with more compost. Space the plants 18 to 24 inches apart. They will grow to about 16 to 18 inches in height and spread about the same in width.

Water well initially, but thereafter just enough to keep the soil moist but not soggy.

Fertilize houseplants by following the maxim "weakly, weekly." That means apply a very diluted, all-purpose fertilizer once a week -- about a quarter of the amount recommended on the package. Do not add extra fertilizer if you plant flamingo lilies in the garden. In the wild, Anthuriums grow on trees or rocks, seldom in soil, and so they are used to absorbing the nutrients they need from rainfall.