Lycoris x squamigera

Developing over time into bulb clusters with oodles of tall stalks topped with curly pink blooms, these lycoris are remarkably tough. Plant where they'll get sun and good drainage. They'll take care of the rest . . . for years to come. This lycoris is an heirloom, first grown in the late 1880s. Note to cold region gardeners: pink squamigera is the most winter hardy of any lycoris available today.

In late summer, bare stalks rocket up out of nowhere, opening into shimmering, lavender-pink, amaryllis-like flowers. Also known as naked ladies and resurrection lily, this Asian wildflower is "nearly ideal for the middle and upper South," Scott Ogden writes inGarden Bulbs for the South. It blooms here in chilly zone-6 Ann Arbor, too, if you can give it a sunny site with sandy soil that stays relatively dry in summer and patience as it re-establishes itself. 36", zones 6a-7b(8bWC)

Lycoris Squamigera is a spring foliage type and has been proven hardy to zone 5, maybe colder with mulch. Its natural habitat is the moist, wooded slopes of China. Blooms mid summer, earlier than the red Lycoris Radiata. It is believed to be a natural hybrid of Lycoris Sprengeri (the Tie Die Lycoris) and the robust growing Lycoris Longituba (white trumpet shaped flowers). The large pink flowers with faint blue tips make a wonderful cut flower. It has naturalized throughout the Midwest and Upper South, where it is affectionately called the "Naked Lady" lily. For this reason it is often confused with Amaryllis Belladonna, which is the "Naked Lady" of the warmer and dryer Western US. If your winters are cold or your summers are wet, you want Lycoris Squamigera, not Amaryllis Belladonna. Although tollerant of lengthy dry periods, it does best with regular moisture, even during summer dormancy. As with all Lycoris, I recommend that you plant shallowly, with the top of the bulb close to the surface. The top will remain dormant until spring, but planting earlier will give a chance for roots to establish themselves. These full size bulbs are similar in size to a daffodil. Although we take care to send the freshest bulbs possible, it is common for Lycoris to sulk for a year or so after transplanting before gracing us with their summer blooms. This gives all the more reason to get them planted this year, rather than put it off for another year.