It just grew there! That’s what Paul and I still say to one another, with some amazement, when we find a plant growing in our yard that we did not put there. I should rephrase: that’s what we say when we notice that an attractive, non-invasive non-weed has had the fortitude to grow unbidden in our sadly neglected yard. Since we moved to the lovely, temperate Pacific Northwest, this has happened more often than either of us have previously experienced in the hotter/colder/more humid/more arid climates in which we have lived.
Earlier this week, two lilies appeared in a far corner of our yard, next to the driveway of the adjacent building. These lilies had no leaves, only single bronze stems atop which clusters of rosy-pink blooms dipped and swayed in the breeze. They looked somewhat otherworldly, and my sci-fi loving husband suggested that they might, in fact, be aliens. Our suspicions were heightened by our certainty that we had never seen these flowers before - that in the six years that we have lived in this house, there have been no lilies anywhere in our yard. Hmmm…
But guess what? A Google search for “leafless pink lily” turned up Lycoris squamigera, commonly known as the resurrection or magic lily, and the pictures matched. Turns out it’s not a lily at all, but a type of amaryllis. Its foliage comes out in the spring, and dies back in the summer, weeks before the bloom stalk shoots up.
OK, so maybe they’re not aliens. We still don’t know how they got into our yard.
This photo, of the second lily, was taken at the same time as the photo above. A single, late afternoon sunbeam found an opening in the trees across the street from our house, and lit up this lily like a torch singer on a stage.
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I really love this second photo with the shadow of the blooms. Now, this does look a little “outer space” to me. And, the kitties seem to be in fine form. In MS I bought a wing-back chair for my room and did not claim it first. My two older girls took it for their official sleeping space. I just put a purr pad in it for their comfort and gave in.
So pretty. The word Amaryllis remind me of Music Man. Wans’t there someone named Amaryllis in there? Can’t quite remember the link.
Anyway, we have a sadly neglected yard too, but nothing as pretty as that has popped up yet.
I finally scheduled a garden person to come and help me plan some improvements.
What beautiful flowers! We have some that look similar to that in our yard (we don’t know what they are either), but they have foliage year round. Isn’t it fun to get surprise flowers??
Those are really pretty. wish something like that would grow in my yard instead of all the graspers and weeds! Stopped by via michele tonight. Have a great weekend!
Oh Kimberly - I love these pictures. In fact I love all of your photos and I just spent a few moments peeking at your Flickr slideshow. You are so wonderfully creative.
There is a lonely patch of mint that has crept into my patio between the tiles - I refuse to dig it up because it makes me smile. You get pretty flowers I get spreading hrbs. Ah well, you win.
Isn’t it just wonderful when that happens. I love to tell people that God planted the tree in my front yard… It just appeared there one year!!
Stopping by to say Hey, Michele sent me!!
However they got there, they are pretty flowers nonetheless. Thanks for sharing the photos- both are great!
Michele sent me.
They’re really pretty. I wish something would just appear in my yard like that!
BTW, Amaryllis in “The Music Man” was the piano student that was sweet on Winthrop.
So beautiful. My favorite lilies are the pinks.
HI! Here via Michele today!
Great photos. They are really pretty flowers! Maybe more will appear?
Presumably other Lycoris squamigera seen in Ophir, Oregon today, 9/29…