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Mystery Rain Lilies!
Last year, writer CJ Mills called to say "I have red rain lilies." Red ones? I was intrigued. Most people down here call wild garlic rain lilies--the plants end up in lawns and have thin stalks and leaves, and tiny white flowers.
"In the lawn?" I clarified. When she said this was so, I asked her to describe the flower. Her description left me totally at a loss--I was picturing something less than a foot tall (correct) but with a flower the size of a dollar coin (very wrong.) But CJ was thinning out the masses of bulbs she had, so I took a few.
Since we were getting ready to move within a few months, I planted the blubs in three pots in hopes of getting some flowers. I dumped water on them periodically, but nothing happened. FInally I got green leaves, but nothing else.
We moved, I set our plants outside, and I forgot about them. They were watered when I watered the herbs, but that was it. Then the drenching rains of autumn showed up. We had so much water (and I was so busy placing strategic wastepaper baskets, as my earlier journal reported) I didn't need to water the plants.
One day, when there was a break in the rain, I was going out to run some errands--and I happened to glance over at the flower pots. Oh, my goodness. These things have MUCH bigger heads than a columbine! We're talking several inches wide, and 3-4 inches long. They are AWESOME flowers. I have no idea what they are, or why they were loose in the garden grass down at CJ's house. But here they are, for your enjoyment.
"In the lawn?" I clarified. When she said this was so, I asked her to describe the flower. Her description left me totally at a loss--I was picturing something less than a foot tall (correct) but with a flower the size of a dollar coin (very wrong.) But CJ was thinning out the masses of bulbs she had, so I took a few.
Since we were getting ready to move within a few months, I planted the blubs in three pots in hopes of getting some flowers. I dumped water on them periodically, but nothing happened. FInally I got green leaves, but nothing else.
We moved, I set our plants outside, and I forgot about them. They were watered when I watered the herbs, but that was it. Then the drenching rains of autumn showed up. We had so much water (and I was so busy placing strategic wastepaper baskets, as my earlier journal reported) I didn't need to water the plants.
One day, when there was a break in the rain, I was going out to run some errands--and I happened to glance over at the flower pots. Oh, my goodness. These things have MUCH bigger heads than a columbine! We're talking several inches wide, and 3-4 inches long. They are AWESOME flowers. I have no idea what they are, or why they were loose in the garden grass down at CJ's house. But here they are, for your enjoyment.