I have had great success with a bulbous plant that flowers in August and should be better known and more widely planted in our home gardens.
Lycoris Squamigera
It is Lycoris squamigera (Amaryllis halli), sometimes called mystery lily. Originally, I planted 15 large bulbs.
From them, the clump grew until, in the fourth year, it produced 91 stalks of bloom! The bulbs were planted 6″ inches deep in moderately rich soil in a semi-shade.
The bed was deeply dug with peat moss and granite sand added but with no fertilizer at the planting time.
When the leaves first appeared in early March, a generous amount of desiccated cow manure was spread over the bed and lightly forked in.
Notable Features
The straplike leaves make rapid growth, mature and die down completely. After a period of rest, the bulbs send up strong flower stalks nearly 3′ feet tall. These, too, grow rapidly and blossom in early August.
A stalk bears from 2 to 10 flowers according to the strength and age of the bulb. The blossoms are delicate rosy lilac with soft blue markings along the petals’ edges.
Deep golden throats add to their beauty. They prove to be excellent cut flowers, graceful and long-lasting.
Growth Habit of Bulbs
The growth habit of this bulb makes it necessary to use underplanting as a ground cover. I have used annual gypsophila and Cynoglossum with equal success. Oregon pansies were lovely, but rabbits ate them.
Though they are thoroughly hardy in the area of New York City, I spread a few inches of straw over the bed as a precaution during winter.
Lycoris squamigera, formerly known as Amaryllis halli, was introduced in America by Dr. George H. Hall, whose name is perhaps more familiar from Hall’s honeysuckle, which he also discovered on a plant collecting trip.
44659 by Ellinor B. Steinmeyer