Thursday, September 25, 2008

Red Spider!

Red Spider Lily, that is. Also called the Equinox Lily, Magic Lily, or Hurricane Lily. Or Lycoris radiata to be precise.

One of the many great things about owning an older home, in my opinion, is that someone may've planted cool things in the yard. The first time early fall rolled around after we moved into this house, and I stepped out the backdoor and these greeted me, I was enchanted with them. Here are some pictures I took a few days ago:

Taken from above.


Our cluster of Lycoris radiata.

Seems like these just pop up overnight. Boom, there they are, all red and bright and slightly Dr. Seuss-looking saying, "Hey, someone planted me here years ago so they could enjoy me." So I do make it a point to stop and admire them in their 2 or 3 weeks of glory and oddity. Thank you, whoever you are, for planting these. This house and its tended yard has been here since 1926 so it could've been long ago.

I've never done a thing but enjoy them each fall when they pop out of the ground, so they must do well here in our climate. They are native to China and Japan, often seen in groups on the ridge of rice fields.

If ingested they are supposed to give you lucid dreams. I wouldn't try that, though.

3 comments:

Marsosudiro said...

Love that "above" shot.

And I'm pretty sure I've never seen one of those plants before, at least not in perfect bloom.

Right now I'm in Portland, OR, where yesterday at a farmer's market I saw lots of mushrooms that I've never seen before.

This being surprised by nature is very pleasant.

Durham Bull Pen said...

@ Marsosudiro - Farmer's Market in Portland Oregon sounds like a wonderful thing. Hope you are taking plenty of pix to share with us and having a great time. :)

Anonymous said...

There are some in bloom right now at the corner of Jackson and Gregson across from the Police Station.