Flaunt It

The stage is set, the girls are out, the competition is on.

Most of the bulbs in Mama’s garden have been very happy this year, and it’s pretty clear to me that they must be in a race for “Most Prolific.”  We’ve had rain lilies and daylilies galore.  The peach show-off daylily came out a few times before retiring early, but the Aztecs, Yangtzees, and Tawny Ditch lilies are still in the running.  The red cannas, although prolific, seem more interested in winning the “Tallest Bloomer” award.  I think they are a lock, since the yellows and pinks–charming and hardy as they are–just won’t ever have the height.  Mama and I can sympathize.

But that competition, more suited to next month’s Olympic season, isn’t the most interesting one right now.  No, the real contest is more pageant like, and it’s between a few sets of Naked Ladies (if that’s who they really are).

It’s hard to believe Mama would even allow this kind of competition in her garden, and I think the only reason it’s happened is because she didn’t see it coming.   For one, these bulbs have never given us any notice that they were going to bloom.  The leaves stay clumped together for most of the year, taking up more and more space each time, but–until last year–they never ever bloomed.

This year, Mama expected we might get something from one of the clumps, and she was right:

Wooster had some blooming, too, but they were a deeper, darker pink.  Mama was sad that she didn’t have that color, so Wooster said she would share.  And she did.  But it turns out that Mama didn’t need them, because we got this surprise, from a different clump in the yard, a few days later:

They’re all beautiful, of course, but it’s pretty clear to me that they all stand by the “if you’ve got it, flaunt it” philosophy.  Now our only problem is figuring out what to call them.  Mama has always thought they were belladonna amaryllis bulbs (also called “Naked Ladies”), but now she’s wondering if that’s right.  Everything she reads says the Naked Ladies are naked because they have bare stalks and the leaves shrivel away; we have bare stalks, but lots of leaves hanging all around the area.  The leaves don’t match those of the Hippeastrums, which we have plenty of, so we don’t think that’s right either (though she did think the deep pinks could be a “Pink Floyd” variety?).

For now, because I like the name and because the girls are fierce as they grace the stage, I’m going to just keep calling them the “Naked Ladies.”

• Posted in: Lilies
• Tagged: lilies, naked ladies