Here’s another blog post meant to “unconfuse” myself. I have been obsessed with bulbs lately and needed to list some good ones for Austin. But they have confusing common names so I can use this blog post to help me track which are which when ordering them. Hope it helps you too. These are all bulbs that I have seen “naturalized” in Austin- meaning that I have seen them growing without any obvious care.
Hymenocallis liriosme -
AKA Texas Spiderlily, Spring Spiderlily, Spiderlily, Louisiana Spiderlily, Western Marsh Spiderlily. I call them Texas ditch lily. These are the ones with white flowers, large, strappy leaves that grow in ditches in East Texas. They are fantastic in areas that are frequently wet and pair well with river ferns and sedges. They like part sun/part shade. They won’t bloom in full shade and they can get sunburned leaves in full sun. I planted them in the arroyo in my backyard that is mostly shaded with some afternoon sun and they are doing great.
Rhodophiala bifida- AKA Oxblood Lily and the much more charming name Schoolhouse Lily because they bloom when school gets back in session in September. Small clusters of dark red blooms on bare stems. The blooms look like small amaryllis. Apparently these are from South America and other species have different color blooms but I have never seen them around here in Austin.
Speaking of Amaryllis…Ok so what confuses me is they usually are sold as gifts at Winter Holiday time, but they bloom in early summer if planted outdoors and left to their own devices. Some varieties are more reliable than others, so research varieties as much as possible and look for heirloom types.
Lycoris radiada- AKA spider lily (see the confusion since the Hymenocallis shares a common name?), aka Surprise Lily… these are a pinkish red color with deeply divided petals and long stamens that stick out all over. They bloom at about the same time as the Oxblood Lilies listed above. I don’t like them as much because I prefer brighter colors. Speaking of brighter colors:
Lycoris aurea- AKA yellow spider lily, ok I haven’t seen this one naturalized anywhere but I am hoping it will naturalize at my house because that golden yellow flower in the fall makes me weak in the knees.
Agapanthus- AKA Lily of the Nile- “Lily of Denial” also works because people are always trying to grow these in too much shade. The like the same kind of light as the Hymenocallis listed above. A little tricky but when you get them in the right spot they are wonderful. They come in shades of blue and white. The blue ones seem to be easier to grow.
Ok more bulb descriptions to come!
Amaryllis at my house. This variety is called ‘Red Lion’. Doing good! I have had it for only one year so we will see if it comes back and blooms again.
Long strap shaped leaves in the foreground are the Hymenocallis. Note the dappled shade and the contrast with the Berkeley sedge groundcover. I love this look! This spot gets lots of irrigation to keep the ferns alive. You can also see the blue agapanthus off in the background on the left. The agapanthus are much smaller than the Hymenocallis.
Here’s a close up of the same Agapanthus one year later. The extra water and dappled shade made them multiply really fast. We divided them after they bloomed. There’s some white blooms in there too, looking angelic.