LSU AgCenter's Weekly Message

Lycoris Flowering Bulbs: What Do You Call Them?

It’s that time of year – between mid-September and early October – when we see what are variously called spider lilies, naked ladies, hurricane lilies, and surprise lilies. I’ve recently learned several other names for them: September lily, magic lily, and equinox flower. I’m primarily thinking about the red spider lily (Lycoris radiata), but people use some of the same names for L. aurea (golden or yellow spider lily), a yellow-flowered cousin.

Red and golden spider lilies are native to Asia, but red spider lily, especially, is common in parts of the southeastern US. (There are plants in other genera that are also called spider lilies, including our native swamp spider lily, Hymenocallis liriosme, so that name can be a bit confusing.)

These flowers delight me. People often have them in landscape beds rather than lawns but probably due in part to my lax mowing habits and tendency to avoid cutting leaves when they’re present, my red spider lilies have done quite well in the lawn.

After flowering, the red spider lily produces narrow leaves that look a good bit like liriope or monkey grass and have a light stripe in the middle. The golden spider lily plant is generally larger than the red one, with flower stalks and leaves reaching about 18 and 15 inches tall, respectively.

Leaves of red and golden spider lilies remain through the winter and into the spring. If you want the bulbs to survive and multiply, be sure to leave the foliage in place until it dies naturally, so that the plant can produce carbohydrates for itself. You can fertilize spider lilies after they flower, with bone meal.

Red and golden spider lilies do well in full sun to partial shade and need good drainage. (This is in contrast with many Hymenocallis spp. spider lilies that grow well in wet areas.)

You can divide the bulbs as the plants start to go dormant, when leaves start to die down in the spring or summer. If they’re not divided from time to time – perhaps every five or six years – they may get overcrowded and stop flowering.

Let me know if you have questions.

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Dr. Mary Helen Ferguson is an Extension Agent with the LSU AgCenter, with horticulture responsibilities in Washington and Tangipahoa Parishes. Contact Mary Helen at mhferguson@agcenter.lsu.edu or 985-277-1850 (Hammond) or 985-839-7855 (Franklinton).