Surprise in the July garden--Naked Ladies!

One of the truly surprising things in the summer garden is the belladonna lily (Amaryllis belladonna). It is commonly called "Surprise Lily" because of its tendency to shoot up a bloom stalk and bloom seemingly overnight. One day it's completely invisible and the next day it is in bloom. (That is only a very slight exaggeration.) It is also called by many other names, including Naked Lady, Magic Lily, August Lily, and many more.

I noticed one of our belladonnas peeking up through the ground on Sunday. On Monday it looked like this:

And today it looked like this:

They multiple like crazy and before long you'll have this:

I suppose it is called Naked Lady because it does not put up foliage until after its bloom stalk dies down. The foliage in the picture above belongs to irises.

Keep any eye out for Naked Ladies as you are out and about in the next few weeks!