{"id":15793,"date":"2026-05-14T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=15793"},"modified":"2026-05-07T12:23:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T16:23:38","slug":"surprise-resurrection-lilies-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2026\/05\/14\/surprise-resurrection-lilies-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprise! Resurrection Lilies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Lycoris radiata<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The beautiful colorful large flowers of Surprise Lilies (Lycoris spp<\/em>.) pop up out of nowhere in mid-summer garden. In the South surprise lilies are popular passalong plants. These members of the Amaryllis family are called spider lilies, resurrection lilies, and hurricane lilies. Their bloom time coincides with summer storm season, hence the name \u201churricane lily\u201d. Other colloquial names include “magic lilies” and “naked ladies”. (USDA hardiness zones 6-10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flowers emerge from the ground first, bloom for 5-7 days, and decline. In Southern climes, their strap-like foliage emerges in early fall; in northerly climes foliage pops up in early spring and lingers until early July and withers away. Surprise lily blooms make great cut flowers. While bloom time is relatively short, their unique flowers are beloved and are beautiful additions to the summer garden. Floral colors vary by species from red, pink, yellow, or white. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spider lilies prefer rich, well-drained and slightly alkaline soils. Plant bulbs 12-inches apart with the pointed end up and their necks just above the soil surface in fall or early spring when bulbs are available. Bulbs are planted too deep may not flower. Smaller bulblets may not flower for a year or two. Flower clusters last about two weeks or longer if they are protected from wind and sun. Each bulb may produce 1-4 flower stems; bulbs do not typically bloom at one time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprise lilies prefer a part sun\/part shaded site. Nourish the bed with a slow-release fertilizer in early spring. They perform best with regular watering and do not tolerate dry conditions. Leaves and roots are toxic, so deer and rodents pass them by. Flowers attract butterflies, some bees, and an occasional hummingbird.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red spider lily<\/strong> (Lycoris radiata<\/em>) produces 4-6 orange-red flowers on long stamens that curl upward. Flowers have a narrow, strap-like petals with extremely long stamens that offer a spider-like look. It performs best in partial shade and does not tolerate direct sunlight. Avoid heavy shade where they do not perform well. Large clumps of bulbs should be divided every 3-5 years after foliage dieback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Naked ladies<\/strong> (L. squamigera<\/em>) produce strap-like leaves in spring that disappear in summer. In fall, trumpet-shaped, purple-pink flowers bloom on 18-inch-tall stalks that pop out of the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White spider lily<\/strong> (L. albiflora<\/em>) has white flowers in clusters of six to eight blooms on 12-to-18-inch-tall stalks with long, curved stamens, making it an excellent cut flower. Leaves emerge in fall and die down in spring. Species does not produce seeds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Electric Blue Spider Lily <\/strong>(L. sprengeri<\/em>) grows 12-18 inches tall with pink flowers and blue tips.  Strap-shaped, green foliage comes up in the spring and disappears in July. In August, pink flower spikes bursts forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Electric<\/strong> Surprise lily<\/strong> (L. haywardii<\/em>) bears clusters of bright pink, tipped blue purple, appear in the spring <\/strong>(Zones 6-9). It grows much like the more-familiar L. radiata<\/em>, in that its foliage also emerges in late fall to winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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White spider lily (L. albiflora<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hurricane lilies are relatively resistant to diseases and pests. Plant parts are also toxic to deer and squirrels. In Japan, spider lilies are used as a planting around rice paddies and houses to keep pests and mice away. Keep this in mind if you have small children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh, NC lists perhaps the largest collection of hurricane lilies <\/strong>in the world. Brent and Becky\u2019s Bulbs in Gloucester list them in their spring catalog. Growers dig and ship bulbs in May and you should not hesitate to plant them upon delivered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The beautiful colorful large flowers of Surprise Lilies (Lycoris spp.) pop up out of nowhere in mid-summer garden. In the South surprise lilies are popular passalong plants. These members of the Amaryllis family are called spider lilies, resurrection lilies, and hurricane lilies. Their bloom time coincides with summer storm season, hence the name \u201churricane lily\u201d. Other colloquial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,657,1319,749,1498,778,645,674,665,1324,853,1632,937,1576,551,1571,625,843,975,812,729,777,630,706,646,113],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15793"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15793"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15974,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15793\/revisions\/15974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}