Red Spider Lily | Lycoris radiata

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Fall Flowering Amaryllis

Lycoris radiata is one of the most rewarding, reliable, and incredibly beautiful bulbs one can grow here in north Texas.  The bulb will spring forth with a stem and then flower in the fall season, sometimes in great profusion I believe the success of flowering depends on the rainfall from the previous summer. The foliage appears after the flower and almost never suffers frost damage. There are limited pests or diseases. They become dormant  in the summer as the foliage dies back.  The tall bloom stalks pop up almost overnight after the first good early autumn rains or hurricane season. They produce a dazzling display of feathery red blossoms up to 6 inches across and are a wonderful speciman for the landscape garden when little else is blooming in the autumn.

Red Spider Lily, Surprise  Lily. Hurricane Lilyy

The lycoris bulb grows to a height of 12-18 in. (30-45 cm) and should survive  in USDA Zone 7a: to -17.7 °C (0 °F) to USDA Zone 9b: to -3.8 °C (25 °F). It prefers a sunny to partial shade exposure and regular watering planted in a loose well drained soil.  It can be used as a border in front of perennial shrubs and it attracts butterflies.

The earliest reference I have found for the red spider lily growing outside it's native environment, so far, is Camden Park, Australia. Now, whether it was growing in Australia before the landing of the HMS Endeavour at Botany Bay on April 29 1770 is the question. 

It is believed to have been grown in Japan prior to the 19^th Century.  It has been suggested that they were introduced into Japan from China along with rice cultivation.

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The red spider lily appears after a good rain in the fall. I have placed hundreds of  these bulbs in four large pots placed along a crescent shaped bed that rounds out a corner of our lot. I also included two

The bulbs are frost tender (7b-8a) so I am happy they have survived two years in the pots. 

In the United States Lavinia Cole Roberts is credited with sharing this beautiful bulb with other gardeners throughout the warm southern states. Lavina was the niece of Captain William Roberts. He gave her three bulbs offered to him on an expedition in 1854. Lavina's home and garden is located in New Bern, North Carolina. Details here.

Below is one of the first botanical prints I could find. It is from the publication, The Botanist Repository, published by Henry Cranke Andrews (1770 – 1830) in 1801. Andrews, through his marriage to  Anne Kennedy, was affiliated with the firm, The Lee and Kennedy Vineyard Nursery, located in Hammersmith, London. 

The Botanist Repository, published by Henry Cranke Andrews (1770 – 1830) in 1801

The second botanical print I have found, in chronological order, is the 1811 print from the Stuttgart Palace Garden by artist and publisher, Johann Simon von Kerner (1755-1830).

Kerner, J.S.,
Hortus sempervirens, vol. 29: t. 344
 (1811)
Source: Plant Illustration

The 1822 botanical art below is a print published in the Botanical Register. This time the artist is M. Hart. I have not been able to locate additional information on M. Hart but there were two botanical "Hart" artists in this area, the other artist was I.J. Hart, James McDougal Hart (1828 – 1901)). The Botanical Register, subsequently known as Edwards' Botanical Register, was an illustrated horticultural magazine that ran from 1815 to 1847. The Botanical Register was started by the illustrator Sydenham Edwards. After Edwards death, James Ridgway became publisher. Ridgway issued nine volumes between 1820 and 1828.

M. Hart
Edwards' Botanical Register
 (1822)
Source: Plant Illustration

The last botanical print is by artist, Louis Severeyns (1860).

Lycoris radiate (L’Herit.)

La Belgigue horticole, journaldes jardins et des vergers, vol. 10 (1860)

 Van Houtte, Louis (Severeyns, Stroobant and De Pannemaker)

Louis Severeyns, published in Belgium

Source: Plant Illustrations

References.                                                                  

1. Introducing Lycoris to. U.s. Flower Lovers." Agricultural Research Washington. 53.12 (2005): 12-13. Print.
2. Koyama, Tetsuo. The Japanese Species of Lycoris. Place of publication not identified, 1959. Print.
3.  Hori, TA; Hayashi, A; Sasanuma, T & Kurita, S (2006), "Genetic variations in the chloroplast genome and phylogenetic clustering of Lycoris species", Genes Genet. Syst., 81 (4): 243–253, doi:10.1266/ggs.81.243, PMID 1703879 
4. Evans, Erv & De Hertough, A.A., Lycoris radiata; Spider lily, Naked lily, Red spider lily, NC State University, archived from the original on 2011-09-13, retrieved 2011-09-13.   
5. Klingaman, Gerald (2000), Plant of the Week : Red Spiderlily, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Services         
6. The Plant List.   
7. Stevens, P.F., Angiosperm Phylogeny Website: Asparagales: Amaryllidoideae
8. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families.   
9. Knox, Gary W. (2011), Hurricane Lilies, Lycoris Species, in Florida, Environmental Horticulture Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, retrieved 2012-04-12. 
10. Mathew, Brian (1978), The Larger Bulbs, London: B.T. Batsford (in association with the Royal Horticultural Society), ISBN 978-0-7134-1246-8.    
11. William Herbert. 1819. Botanical Magazine 47: pl. 2113

Salvia

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Gardening with Sages

CREATING Autumn accents | Two Favorites

Vivid Scarlet Vermilion 

Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans)

I consider pineapple sage an annual in my eco-region. It is a perennial in zones 8 and greater. Pineapple sage can usually be found in the herb section of your local nursery in the spring. Many people grow it for the lovely pineapple scented leaves and use the leaves for tea. The best luck I have had with both salvias is planting them along the edge of a retaining wall. The raised nature of a retaining wall allows for good drainage.




Lovely Lavender

Perennial Mexican bush sage  (Salvia leucantha) 

                                                                                                                                                  

I have the 3-5' Mexican salvia and the more diminutive Salvia leucantha 'Santa Barbara'.  If you have ever grown Russian sage you will find this sub-shrub comparable excepting the shorter height of the plant makes it less likely to topple in winds and requires no support.  We usually get temperatures below 25 degrees so I considered it a perennial in zone 7b-8a.                                                         

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All material © 2007-2017 by Jeanette Hyden for Grassroots Horticulture

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POINSETTIA

The poinsettia (/pɔɪnˈsɛtiə/ or /pɔɪnˈsɛtə/) (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a commercially important plant species of the diverse spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europ÷eans in 1834. It is particularly well known for its red and green foliage and is widely used in Christmas floral displays. It derives its common English name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico, who is credited with introducing the plant to the US in the 1820s. Poinsettias are shrubs or small trees, with heights of 0.6–4 m (2.0–13.1 ft). 

Wild poinsettias occur from Mexico to southern Guatemala, growing on mid-elevation, Pacific-facing slopes. One population in the Mexican state of Guerrero is much further inland, however, and is thought to be the ancestor of most cultivated populations. Wild poinsettia populations are highly fragmented, as their habitat is experiencing largely unregulated deforestation. They were cultivated by the Aztecs for use in traditional medicine. They became associated with the Christmas holiday and are popular seasonal decorations. Every year in the US, approximately 70 million poinsettias of many cultivated varieties are sold in a six-week period. Many of these poinsettias are grown by Paul Ecke Ranch, which serves half the worldwide market and 70% of the US market.

The poinsettia was described as a new species in 1834 by German scientist Johann Friedrich Klotzsch. Klotzsch credited Carl Ludwig Willdenow with the species name "pulcherrima", and the authority is given as Willd. ex Klotzsch. The holotype had been collected in Mexico during an 1803–1804 expedition by Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland.

It was known by the common name "poinsettia" as early as 1836, derived from Joel Roberts Poinsett, a botanist and the first US Minister to Mexico. Possibly as early as 1826, Poinsett began sending poinsettias from Mexico back to his greenhouses in South Carolina. Prior to poinsettia, it was known as "Mexican flame flower" or "painted leaf".

Euphorbia pulcherrima is a shrub or small tree, typically reaching a height of 0.6–4 metres (2–13 ft). The plant bears dark green dentate leaves that measure 7–16 centimetres (2.8–6.3 in) in length. The colored bracts—which are normally flaming red, with cultivars being orange, pale green, cream, pink, white, or marbled—are often mistaken for flower petals because of their groupings and colors, but are actually leaves. The colors of the bracts are created through photoperiodism, meaning that they require darkness (at least fourteen hours at a time for 6–8 weeks in a row) to change color. The plants also require abundant light during the day for the brightest color.

The flowers of the poinsettia are unassuming. They are grouped within the cyathia (small yellow structures found in the center of each leaf bunch, or false flowers). Nothing is known about pollination in wild poinsettias, though wasps are noted to occasionally visit the cyathia. All flowers in the Euphorbiaceae are unisexual (either male or female only), and they are often very small in size. In Euphorbia, the flowers are reduced even more and then aggregated into an inflorescence or cluster of flowers.

Aztec people use the plant to produce red dye and as an antipyretic medication. In Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, the plant is called Cuetlaxochitl, meaning "flower that grows in residues or soil" Today it is known in Mexico and Guatemala as flor de Nochebuena or simply nochebuena, meaning 'Christmas Eve flower'. In Spain it is known as Flor de Pascua or Pascua, meaning Easter flower. In Chile and Peru, the plant became known as the crown of the Andes.

The plant's association with Christmas began in 16th-century Mexico, where legend tells of a girl, commonly called Pepita or María, who was too poor to provide a gift for the celebration of Jesus' birthday and was inspired by an angel to gather weeds from the roadside and place them in front of the church altar. Crimson blossoms sprouted from the weeds and became poinsettias.  From the 17th century, Franciscan friars in Mexico included the plants in their Christmas celebrations. The star-shaped leaf pattern is said to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem, and the red color represents the blood sacrifice of Jesus's crucifixion.

Poinsettias are popular Christmas decorations in homes, churches, offices, and elsewhere across North America, as a result of an extensive marketing campaign by the Ecke family that began by shipping free poinsettias to television stations for use on-air. In the US, December 12 is National Poinsettia Day, marking the anniversary of Joel Roberts Poinsett's death.

References.                                                                

Wikipedia

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for 

~Grassroots Horticulture~  __________________________________________________

Drop Dead Reds

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Here are a few reds in the garden.

"Drop Dead Red" Rose with a backdrop of Blackfoot Daisy

Old world garden flowers, such as the Hippeastrum can be seen in southern gardens during the early spring.

Nana Nandina

Burford Holly Berries

Grassroots Horticulture

2006-2016

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