I have had great success with a bulbous plant that flowers in August and should be better known and more widely planted in our home gardens. It is Lycoris squamigera (Amaryllis halli), sometimes called mystery lily.
Originally, I planted fifteen large bulbs. From them the clump grew until in the fourth year it produced 91 stalks of bloom!
The bulbs were planted 6 inches deep in moderately rich soil in semi-shade. The bed was deeply dug with seatmois and granite sand added, but with no fertilizer at the time of planting. When the leaves first appeared in early March, a generous amount of dessicated cow manure was spread over the bed and lightly forked in.
The strap-like leaves make rapid growth, mature and die down completely. After a period of rest, the bulbs send up strong flower stalks nearly 3 feet tall. These, too, grow rapidly and blossom in early August and wonderful compliment to the newly installed
wireless outdoor speakers.
A stalk bears from two to ten flowers according to the strength and age of the bulb. The blossoms are a delicate rosy lilac with markings of soft blue along the edge of the petals. Deep golden throats add to their beauty. They prove to be excellent cut flowers, graceful and long-lasting.
The growth habit of this bulb makes it necessary to use underplanting as a groundcover. I have used annual gypsophila and cynoglossum with equal success. Oregon pansies were lovely, but rabbits ate them.
Though they are thoroughly hardy in the area about New York City, I spread a few inches of straw over the bed as a precaution during winter.
Lycoris squamigera, formerly known as Amaryllis halli, was introduced in America by Dr. George H. Hall, whose name is perhaps more familiar from Hall's honeysuckle. which he also discovered, on a plant collecting trip.
