90821From formerly dormant bulbs just below where their foliage shriveled in the warmth of last spring, the naked brown floral stalks of naked lady, Amaryllis belladonna, grow fast to about two feet tall. They bloom suddenly with a few or several garish pink lily flowers about three inches long. They are sneaky about it too. Without foliage, and prior to flashy bloom, the bare stalks are easy to miss.

Even though individual flowers do not last long, the collective bloom lingers a bit longer as newer flowers bloom to replace those that bloomed slightly earlier on the same stalks. They are nice as cut flowers. The minimal floral fragrance is usually unnoticed, so can be a surprise if the weather happens to be conducive to the dispersion of the light fragrance of exceptionally abundant bloom.

Foliage does not regenerate until after bloom, and should wait until after the first rain of autumn. Where winters are colder, it waits until early spring, only to die back before summer. The long strap shaped leaves resemble those of lily-of-the-Nile, but are a bit softer. If ruined by frost, they try again. The tops of the two or three inch wide bulbs are visible at the surface of the soil while dormant.

6 thoughts on “Naked Lady Amaryllis”

    1. They really are! I am none too keen on the color, but they are so reliable. When the spread a bit too much, we take what we don’t want, and put them out on the edge of the road just before they break dormancy. Once the rain starts, they settle in and take over from there. They need no watering.

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      2. The lady I did the Garden Report on KSCO with liked to make me giggle, so would get rather emphatic about the naked ladies when they were in bloom. It was embarrassing during the report, but funny.

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