Common Name: Resurrection lily
Type: Bulb
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Native Range: Japan
Zone: 5 to 9
Height: 1.50 to 2.00 feet
Spread: 1.50 to 2.00 feet
Bloom Time: August to September
Bloom Description: Rose pink tinged with lilac
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Naturalize
Flower: Showy, Fragrant
Culture
This is the most cold hardy of the species of Lycoris available in commerce today. It is easily grown in organically rich, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Plant bulbs 5-6” deep and 6” apart in fall. Mulch in winter. Naturalizes by bulb-offsets. Needs only moderate water during summer after the leaves die back and before the flowering stems emerge.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Lycoris squamigera is a late summer-blooming bulb of the Amaryllis family. Strap-like grayish-green leaves (to 12” long and 1” wide) in spring. Leaves die back in summer. Thick naked flower scapes rise to 2’ tall in late summer, each bearing 4-7 funnel-shaped, rose-pink tinged with lilac flowers that are quite fragrant. Appearance resembles Belladonna lily (Amaryllis belladonna). Flowering habit somewhat reminiscent of Colchicum.
Genus name honors a Roman beauty, the mistress of Mark Antony.
Plants in the genus Lycoris are sometimes commonly called resurrection flower, surprise lily or magic lily because the leaves disappear in summer with the flower spikes seemingly rising from the dead in late summer.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems.
Uses
Borders or containers. Also effective in open woodland gardens, meadows or wild areas where the messy late spring foliage is not a concern.