Sunday, July 4, 2010

Rain lilies

We must have had about 4 inches of rain last night, which thrilled the rain lilies, also known as zephyr lilies, (Habranthus robustus), because they rewarded us with one of the best displays in ages. The photos tell the story.

11 comments:

Meems said...

Oh, I do love rain lilies and yours look so pretty mixed with the bromeliads. The rain is boosting their appearance around here, too.
Loving the much needed rain as much as the lilies...
Meems

Terra Mirabilis said...

Hey, Meems. I noticed that the weather maps show there's been no shortage of rain in your neck of the woods, too. The only downside is the skeeters!

Susan said...

I love rain lilies...they're so happy looking. But, then again all the plants look happy when it rains.

Terra Mirabilis said...

True, Susan! The thing about rain lilies is that they are SO easy; stick the bulbs in the ground and forget about them. But I do wonder how they grow the flower stems so fast ...

MrBrownThumb said...

These are incredible! You have me seriously contemplating moving to Florida so I can grow these in the ground.

NanaK said...

Your grouping of rain lilies against those broms is just beautiful. Lots of slow, steady rain is such a good thing for the garden.

Terra Mirabilis said...

Thanks, Nana and MBT. The strange thing is that only days ago I was thinking about pulling them out because there were just a few leaves showing. They must grow at a mile-a-minute after a heavy rain.

Unknown said...

All of my neighbors have rain lilies growing wild,but we aren't so fortunate.Your's are astounding!

Anonymous said...

Penny, these look like Habranthus robustus. Habranthus and Zephyranthes are very similar, and some species have gone back and forth between the genera. Zephyranthes flowers point straight up and have stamens equal in length, whereas Habranthus flowers point upward at an angle and have stamens of slightly unequal length. Next time they flower, have a looks at the stamens.

Terra Mirabilis said...

@Chris: Thanks! Get your neighbors to donate some to you. Nothing like spreading around the delights.

@Scott (or Anonymous!). Thanks so much for clarifying. I'll check tomorrow if the flowers are still open. I love knowing a botanist!

Terra Mirabilis said...

In case anyone reads this far down, I originally called them Zephyranthes grandiflora, but as Anonymous pointed out, I had the wrong species so I corrected the post.