Lycoris photos anyone?

Hello everyone.

Im working on an article about Summer bulbs for Southern Gardens: Lycoris
for DavesGarden.

There are only nine listings for lycoris in Plant Files. Could anyone who has the opportunity please post more lycoris photos in Plant Files?

thanks,

gloria

....

Lycoris aurea?

your posting has made me realize mine has not come up. sigh.

Isn't it still a little early. Here they start in late July. And then you need a good soaking rain to get them started.

good. then there's still hope/

I found a book by Elizabeth Lawrence.- the garden writer for the Charlotte Observer in the 1960s. She says there the sequence for lycoris is: L. squamigera - the pink resurrection lilies; L. caldwellii - I think this is sort of an ivory yellow hybrid; then Lycoris albiflora - this is a white version of the red spider lily; then L. radiata var. radiata - this is the red spider lily we have all over the South; then the Late yellows - L.
aurea (not hardy) , and L. traubii.

Elizabeth Lawrence says this is the sequence and they start in August and end in October.

L aurea should be completely dormant now and they bloom in October. They are the first Lycoris to go down around here every spring.

that book is really, really old--L aurea, L traubii, and L albiflora all bloom simultaneously here in October; and L aurea is hardy all through zones 8 and a lot of well known growers also grow it in zone 7b (see plants delight site). L sprengeri and L radiata bloom at about the same time as Rhodophiala bifida (labor day) around here.

I have tons of Lycoris photo's I'll try to upload when I have time--but they are all copyrighted to me, so might not help you.

dmj: I am writing an article on lycoris and when I went to Plant Files I found that there were not many photos.

I have just about finished the article using links to sites like Plant Delights to show what the plant looks like.

My concern was there were so few photographs and not a wide variety either in Plant Files. I know you have already contributed many.

thanks,

gloria

I yes. the information from Elizabeth Lawrence describes the dates the different lycoris appear in her gardens in Charlotte N.C. she did write in the 1960s. Its possible that climatic changes would have affected the sequence since then.

I only have L. sqamigera and L. radiata var radiata here in Alabama. The L. Squamigera blooms a few weeks before the red spiders.
The red spiders show in August but usually wait for a good soaking rain.

actually the correspondances for that book between her and her friend are much older than the 60's

I used the 1960s as the time frame for the 1957-1971 span for the columns written for the Charlotte Observer.


E. Lawrence and Bill Neal (editor). Through the Garden Gate. 1995. UNC Press. ISBN:0807845191
QUOTE:
Through the Garden Gate is a collection of 144 of the popular weekly articles that Elizabeth Lawrence wrote for The Charlotte Observer from 1957-1971. With those columns, a delightful blend of gardening lore, horticultural expertise, and personal adventures, Lawrence inspired thousands of southern gardeners. This volume makes an important dimension of her work available to a new wider audience.

*********************************************************************

she has several gardening and bulb books which mostly consist of correspondences between her and a man in Pennsylvania whose name evades me right now--actually some of the oldest books about daff's are the best.

yes. I wrote an article about daffodils.
Didn't base it on Elizabeth Lawrence books, though. I think I have most of them.

There is a new book. Scott Ogden. Garden Bulbs for the South.
It has a chapter on Crinums, but I don't think it has as much relevant detail as Elizabeth Lawrence included in her books.

I like the old garden books for their detail. Nowadays people just write for a publisher, not for gardeners.

This message was edited Jul 16, 2008 12:43 PM

well that's not exactly a new book either--its in its 2nd publication for Scott Ogden and the 2nd publication has been out for a couple of years

there are several excellent newer bulb books out--excellent resources for the beginner--this is for the "lurkers" and to cut down on my dmails

1. Janis Ruksans--Buried Treasures--outstanding; I did a book review on it for the last International Bulb Society publication "Bulbs"; a real growers book, definitely not written for publishers--excellent for northern growers
2. not exactly new, but much better than Scott Ogden: Thad Howard "Bulbs for Warm Climates"--not written for publishers at all
3. this has a lot of bulbs in it and also not exactly new either "The Plant Hunter's Garden" by Bobby Ward--a great read too
4. Daffodils in Florida by the Van Beck Sisters--definitely the best guide for zones 7b-9b, but not new either
5. The Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs--essential to me, but might be a bit much for many

Thanks. Some good reading to check out!

Deb-you said sprengeri blooms at the same time as radiata?

My squamigera always bloom around July, and the radiata bloom for me in the Fall.

If I have some bulbs marked "sprengeri" blooming right this minute, at the same time as my squamigera...then I must have all squamigera, and the sprengeri were mislabelled...

Right?...darn
-T

I understand that the one's that produce leaves in the spring will bloom earlier and the spider types with fall leaves will bloom later.

Elizabeth Lawrence said (in South Carolina) the lycoris bloomed from August through October. The sequence was:
L. sqamigera (this is the hardy pink resurrection lily), L. caldwellii, L. albiflora (white spider lily) L. radiata (red spider), and the latest were the yellows: L. traubiii and L. aurea.

Im looking for my resurrection lilies (pink trumpet lilies) to show any day now.
The L. sprengeri have spring leaves. I think they should show any time now with a good rain.

Plant files could use some photos!

While I have other lycoris, I only have photos of squamigera and radiata, and those two have tons of photos...wish I could add photos of the others!

Still anxiously awaiting their maiden blooms... *sigh

Taylor--mine bloom later but they have been dormant since first of March, they are definitely winter growers for me--but we don't have the cold winter's that you do--I definitely wouldn't mark them as mislabeled until you see your full gamut of Lycoris bloom. strange things can happen in any one single year--and I've seen about it all when it comes to the Lycoris species and hybrids--the hybrids, such as L albiflora being a prime example in unpredictability

despite the claims of the 50 year old book--they don't bloom in that order for me--and I turn a lot of them every year ;)

generally speaking (some minor variation year to year depending on rainfall, etc. but not much) L sprengeri, L albiflora, L radiata all bloom simultaneously for me; right after the oxblood lilies (both red and pink)

then come the yellows L traubii and L aurea in October--I don't see any signs of life on any Lycoris of mine right now; but I don't expect to either. However, I am noticing action of one of my strains of Sternbergia's and that's really rare this early--but we have been extremely dry--record-breaking drought for down here, I'm on the extreme western edge of Harris County and it hasn't rained in weeks
=)

debbie: Do you have the L. squamigera there? For me in West Alabama, L. squamigera is about 2 weeks ahead of L. radiata.

I do like Elizabeth Lawrence, not because her books are 50 years old but because she is so detailed. Good garden writing doesn't get old, in my opinion.

yes I have about 10-20 L squamigera--but they are not even on my property--they are out on my growing fields--to be real honest, I'm not impressed with them and feel the same way about L radiata--just plain boring when you grow as many bulbs as I do, and I can't turn them. Quite frankly, I have much more impressive rain lilies than either of those two Lycoris.

I have a few more Lycoris than what was listed above too--just not in significant numbers; and not well enough known to the general public to mention here

However the other four above are my best sellers as far as Lycoris goes ( L sprengeri, traubii, aurea, albiflora)

My question was when does L. squamigera bloom there? It usually leads the sequence of Lycoris.

your question was did I have any here