![]() ![]() However, to keep them from becoming overcrowded, which could lead to diminished bloom production, they should be divided every few years. In a planting site to their liking, deer-resistant red spider lilies will naturalize. When actively growing, they should, of course, be watered if the rains don’t come. Red spider lilies are tolerant of dry conditions in the summer because that is their dormant time, but they will do better if, during extended droughts, their planting bed is at least watered occasionally. Finish the planting with a layer of mulch, and maintain this organic covering even through the winter. Adding a little time-release bulb fertilizer at planting time will give the new plants a jump start into next year. Settle the base of the bulbs about 4 to 6 inches deep in the ground. Spacing should be about 8 to 10 inches apart in a sunny to lightly shaded area that has well-draining soil. Red spider lily bulbs are best planted in the fall, meaning now is a good time to get ’em in the ground. ![]() After the flowers finish their dazzling displays, the stalks fade and fall to the ground, which is followed by the long leaves rising again to start the odd cycle once more. However, in the heat of late summer, 18 to 24-inch (or taller) spikes bearing brilliant crimson, spider-like blooms miraculously spring up from the baked earth to put on a show that can last up to two weeks. How weird, you ask? The strap-like leaves emerge in the fall and persist through the winter, but then they die down in the spring, leaving nothing to see. It was first introduced to the United States by Captain William Roberts, who brought a few dried bulbs back with him to his New Bern home after he sailed on Commodore Matthew Perry’s famous mission to open up Japan’s trade routes in 1854.įor backyard growers unfamiliar with this attractive plant, take note: it has a weird growing habit. Gardeners who are pleasantly amazed by the seemingly magical reemergence of their red spider lilies (Lycoris radiata) in the late summer and early fall garden might also be surprised that this beauty from the Orient has a strong North Carolina connection. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |