Rain Lily woes....

I received some rain lilies from a generous DG'er last year, they are Z. Candida. I can't figure out where to put them though. Every where I have tried them the foliage is getting burned. I have dug them up and moved them, I had them in a pot and moved it around and I just can't seem to find the right place for them. I thought they liked the sun....does anyone have any tips for growing these? Is it just too hot in my region? They haven't even bloomed yet, but I keep trying to make them happy. And also, do they have to have the foliage to bloom? Thanks! Fran

Anyone...........anyone............

Hey~

The important thing about Z. candida is CONSTANT MOISTURE. The more sun, the more this is vital.

I bought a pot at HD and they had them sitting in water with other "bog plants" including Hymenocallis coronaria. Both were somewhat shaded, but looked fabulous.

Robert.

Mine are on the eastern side of the house--that elusive quantity called morning sun afternoon shade. They just started blooming...they are dry a lot of the time.

mine are under a pine tree in the mixed sun shade. mine have died down now due to heat drought .

Thanks for responding guys. I moved mine again today so they will be getting the morning sun and afternoon shade, or at least I think. I have kept them moist, watering often once I saw them starting to singe on the ends, but even if I watered them in the morning they were burned by afternoon. Hopefully this help. Thanks again! Fran

Fran, the reason Z candida is often thought a bog plant is that it is from a seasonally flooded habitat, the banks of the Rio de la Plata in Argentina. (Actually, it's why the river is called "River of Silver", because the Spanish arrived during the blooming of this plant). When they bloom (in late summer, fall on the gulf coast) they seem a solid haze of white. On the bank of a pond, in a place that gets "mushy" when it rains, or as the HD folks had it - in a pond in a pot are nice ways to grow it to keep the foliage looking like monkey grass but you can also have it growing with another more drought tolerant ground covers, such as the little Chocolate Chip Ajuga under ordinary garden growing conditions. They will bloom when you have a nice hard rain, whatever you do. It is certainly not pH sensitive - the prettiest blooming clumps of the stuff I ever saw were on the FL panhandle (near Gulf Breeze) in a seasonally flooded salt marsh, and in Covington under pines that never flooded at all.

Sorry guys, I have mine in FULL all day Arizona sun, no burn occurring here. Nothing special about the soil, average clay, and plenty of water. I wonder if you should have just waited it out and really let the clump get established- a newly planted anything might get singed in the summer simply because the roots are getting hot but once established those roots will be deeper and wouldn't be a problem.

Mine are in the shade and blooming.....

i got some last year and mine just had its first bloom! i don't water them much. the bloom occured after we had rain for a day after a period of no rain. mine are pink. i have mine planted in part sun part shade. these are amazing plants to me!

kelly

I keep meaning to take a picture of my foliage to post, but I can't seem to remember when I'm out there. Arizona in the full sun??? Interesting, I would think they would be ok here then. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I've only had a couple blooms on some news I got this spring, none on the old, but I'm going to keep trying to find the right location for them. Thanks for the input! I'll try to remember to get the picture of that foliage in case anyone has any ideas. Fran

I had rain lilies around the base of a large magnolia tree, until katrina...they were in shade of this tree and were spreading and bloomed in the summer after rains....I assumed they were called rain lilies because of that... maybe they are not doing well because it hardly rains in La any more..... I dug my bulbs up to grind the stump of the tree and have not replaced them yet....If they are still good should I do that now or wait until october or the spring....shirley

I'm not sure I understand your question. Do you have bulbs that are out of the ground and need to be planted and you're wondering if you should plant them now or wait til spring? If that's the case I believe it's a plant them or lose them deal just like any bulb. If it misses it's growing season it can't store up energy fro next year.

azreno....thank you for the info...I had to move those bulbs about two months ago to grind the stump of giant magnolia tree they were planted under...we lost it in Katrina...I dug them up but did not know if I should plant them back or wait until october.....I just looked at them and they are plump and fat and look great... I will place them back in the new bed I am doing now...I also had some naked ladies under another tree that I had to dig for the same reason...I will plant them to and just see... It has been so hot and dry here. I just have not thought much about them but I did really like them so I guess it is a"just do it time" .thanks again shirley

I have that happen a lot! Lost a bunch of freesias and glads due to a demo project this year- I just couldn't get them in the ground anywhere! I guess that means I get new ones now :-)

I have decided to put them under a smaller magnolia tree about 10 feet from the original place...they did well under the old one so I am going to give them a chance ...that is my plan for today....shirley

Awesome- you'll be glad you did!