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Thursday, July 29, 2010

The Beautiful Amaryllis

I have been fascinated with the wild Amaryllis since moving to California in the mid 90s. The Amaryllis belladonna (pictured below, just emerging) is also called the Naked Pink Lady. In the winter it has a glorious spray of large, strap like green leaves, just like the leaves on the Amaryllis you get for Christmas. These leaves turn yellow and die in the late spring, around the time that the rain stops. What is so interesting however is that in mid summer, when the days are longest and hottest, these fantastic buds emerge from the naked ground and slowly get taller and taller until they open up to beautiful pink flowers! And such a lovely smell. They are funny to see in the wild where they look like aliens coming up out of the grasses with no clothes. So lovely and delicate though. And as a botanist, I really enjoy seeing the wild version of cultivars we are all familiar with, especially coming from NH!
Another interesting Amaryllis is one that I need to do some more research on as the 5 minutes I just did yielded nothing. Here is a photo of the flower:
Its leaves are similar to the agapanthus leaves which have a sheath at the bottom and the leaves separate about 8" up from the base. This time of year these leaves are falling over, not dying, and the flowers are starting to emerge. I am wondering if they are a different type of Lilly, like the agapanthus, rather than the amaryllis. My neighbor down the street has one of a rich rose color, so beautiful. Hmmmmmm, I must learn more.

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