Red Spider Lily that is! This Saturday I was mowing and passed by one of the garden beds on my riding mower when this bright red flower jumped out at me. Did it really jump? Nope but one day it wasn't there and now here it is. Spider lilies (
Lycoris radiata) are also called a variety of names like Naked Ladies (which are actually
Lycoris squamagira), hurricane lilies, and surprise lilies. You can see why the last name fits but the other names have their logic too. If you examine the picture you will note that there are no leaves. Those come later on after blooming but for now this lily does look rather naked! These lilies also appear during hurricane season which is why the hurricane lily name has become attached to this beautiful flower.
I don't know how this spider lily came to grow in my garden. There is only one so far and more would be welcome to my garden. I suspect the bulb for this flower tagged along with another plant from a past plant swap. Soon my surprise spider lily will fade from view and send up foliage to gather energy to produce next year's bloom (and hopefully more bulbs).
For more great information on
Spider Lilies check out this webpage at the University of Mississippi!
