Rain brings out the rain lilies
The rain lilies ( Zephryanthes ‘Labuffarosea’) immediately responded to the rain this morning by blooming.
Hand-watering the garden this morning, I ignored a continuous rumble of thunder. I’m immune to such teases after two weeks of 100+ temperatures and ongoing drought. Suddenly a flash and a loud crack convinced me it would be wise to turn off the hose and go inside, where I dubiously looked out the window.
And then, to my surprise, it began to rain.
The light rain lasted a blessedly cool couple of hours. In the end, we got only a quarter-inch, but the garden and I are grateful. I spotted this rain lily bud early this morning, before the rain. When I went out again in mid-afternoon, it was in full bloom, and several more flowers stood nearby. How quickly they react to natural moisture!
Annie in Austin passed these rain lilies along to me earlier this year, and I planted them on April 1. They were from divisions of bulbs she’d ordered from Plant Delights, she told me. I’m charmed by their sweet, pale-pink blossoms that love the rain as I do.
For all you warm-climate gardeners (zones 7-9), this is a good bulb to try. According to the Plant Delights online catalog and San Marcos Growers, this “incredibly prolific flowering rain lily” from Mexico is “nearly pest proof” and “doesn’t seem picky about the soil.”
All that, plus it’s as sweet-looking as a much-needed rainfall.
All material © 2006-2009 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Pam, they must be hardy, because they are prolific and happy in my garden, too. Very little else is…
Congrats on the rain, Pam, and two hours of soft drops too, how wonderful. Something that responds so quickly to natural moisture and doesn’t care about soil does need to go on our list. How can it tell the water comes from the sky and not the hose, she wonders. 🙂
Frances
I don’t know, Frances, but rain lilies aren’t the only plant in Austin to respond differently to rainfall than to the hose. Cenizo, or Leucophyllum frutescens, also called barometer plant, only blooms when it rains. Or rather, what it actually responds to is a change in barometric pressure that precedes a summer rain. —Pam
I could have sworn I just typed a comment. (then I turned and patted the dog) If there are two comments from me you can delete this one.
Sweet little bloom. So glad you got at least a little rain.
The rain lilies make a beautiful exclamation point to the rain.
Ooh I need to check on my rainlilies from Annie and see if they’re blooming. We got nearly an inch of rain this morning. The thunder was so loud that it shook the house enough to actually wake me up!
I love this time of year when little treasures emerge daily!
They dont seem to bloom as a reaction to rain…. its only the occasional rain that spring out the blooms especially after a period of hotspell… Thats what I notice in “my little vegetable garden”…
Nice flowers you have there…. very soft pink.
~ bangchik
Thanks for your insight into this rain lily’s bloom cycle, Bangchik. I knew someone would know more about them than I do. —Pam
Rain? What’s that? Oh, I remember now, it’s that stuff that used to fall out of the sky here forever ago. Is there a native variety of rainlilies? Something very similar pops up around here sometimes, but they are almost white. Yours are very pretty.
We have those native rain lilies too, Randy. Here’s some info on these rain lilies from the Wildflower Center. They’ll pop up after a rain in yards and fields, they smell delicious, and then they disappear just as quickly. —Pam
Thank goodness for the rain and the rain lilies…They are in the shopping cart at one of the online nurseries I like to frequent and the pink are delightful…gail
Pam, pretty lilies! I noticed that the “barometer” plants (I call them Texas sage) did not predict yesterday’s rain. They were blooming a couple of days before the storm on June 18th. They have been very accurate this year thus far. I’m close to Lake Austin Blvd and we received over 1.25 inches of rain – HAPPY DAYS! It is impressive how much all of the plants perked up after yesterday’s rain. It’s sprinkling now so hopefully there will be more!
Oh, lucky you to have gotten so much rain! I’m glad. Even the trees around town look like they’re suffering. —Pam
Pretty, pretty! Don’t ignore the thunder, glad you got some rain.
I’ve never seen rain lilies before. How beautiful!
Pam, my rainlilies have been blooming off and on for the last couple of weeks but nary a drop of rain has fallen. I’ve given up trying to figure them out and just enjoy them!
Maybe yours are just very optimistic, Cindy. —Pam
First grew a couple of them last year, grandiflora and candida, in the SF Bay Area. They came back, but haven’t bloomed yet this year. Grandiflora is beautiful, but kind of hard to find in the nurseries. Yours looks great.
Hi Pam,
What a fine gift from Annie! You are going to be so thrilled as they multiply and provide greenery all year long when they aren’t blooming. There must be something in rain that is not in well-water. A hose can induce a flush of blooms during a drought but it isn’t any thing like the display a rain will bring. With each rain the lilies sprout up those adorable vertical buds and flower like clock work all summer.
So happy you got some blessed liquid that your entire garden will benefit from… we are getting a very nice dose today here and I’m so grateful.
Great photos as always.
Meems @ Hoe and Shovel
It’s good to know they bloomed for you, Pam – I’ve had a few flowers here, too.
Read somewhere it’s not just moisture but changes in air pressure – the kind when a storm comes – that triggers the bloom. The ones I gave away are now growing in all parts of Austin so it might be a kind of scientific experiment to track the flowers ;-]
Hope the future brings you more rain and only one garden to take care of – just as soon as you transplant that betony to the new house.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose