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Weird, beautiful red spider lilies.
Photo by L.A. Jackson
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Purple basil seed stalks.
Photo by L.A. Jackson
Let's grow some spiders. No, not the creepy, crawly, eight-legged kind, but rather bulbs of the red spider lily (Lycoris radiata), a deer-resistant beauty that, late in the growing season, can delightfully light up a fading flower border that has been weathered by the incessant summer sun.
For gardeners unfamiliar with red spider lily, I need to mention its weird growing habit. Strap-like leaves emerge in the fall and persist through the winter, but then they wilt away in late spring, leaving nothing to see for a while. However, in the heat of the waning summer, 12- to 18-inch spikes bearing clusters of dazzling red, spider-like blooms magically arise from the baked earth. After the flowers put on their snazzy show, they die down, and the leaves sprout again in autumn to, once again, restart this odd cycle.
A good time to plant red spider lilies is late summer to early autumn. Check first with your local, friendly nurseries for bulbs, but if this search comes up with zilch, they are easy to find online.
In a sunny to lightly shaded area, space bulbs about 6 to 8 inches apart. The base of the bulbs should be planted about 3 to 4 inches deep. Although they can survive in tough growing grounds, tucking them away in well-drained, loamy soil will encourage better bloom production. Also, adding a dusting of time-release bulb fertilizer at planting time will give your new "spiders" a jumpstart into next year.
It's been my experience that red spider lilies don't yield quick results. I added three groupings at different times in my garden, and in each case, the plants sputtered with unimpressive flower shows the year after being planted. But by the second growing season, they started maturing into full show-off mode.
In a planting site to their liking, red spider lilies can naturalize—sometimes to the point of becoming overcrowded, which could lead to diminished blossom displays. To prevent this, they should be divided every few years in the early summer.
When you do divide your pretties, don't worry about having any leftover bulbs, because red spider lilies have been a favorite pass-along plant in the South since the 1800s. Any that you give away will only perpetuate this friendly tradition.
August in the garden
- Snip rather than rip weeds from annual ornamental and vegetable beds now because deep cultivation to remove unwanted plants could damage established roots and exacerbate soil moisture loss.
- Have a fish aquarium? You also have an all-natural source of rich plant nutrients. So, whenever you change part of the water in the tank, pour the excess around some of your favorite plants.
Tip of the month
Popular herbs such as chives, dill, fennel, lemon balm and basil like to stick around in the garden by developing and dropping seeds that can readily sprout next spring as volunteers (meaning free plants). So, let one or two plants of each freely spread their pelleted progenies. Or, for better placement, simply shake the dried seedheads in the areas where you want the plants to grow later. Next spring, the herb patch might become a bit crowded with new plants, but this overabundance can be easily addressed by using a pair of scissors to trim the population for proper spacing.
L.A. Jackson is the former editor of Carolina Gardener magazine. Contact him at lajackson1@gmail.com.