My Small Patch of Pink Rain Lilies

Florida has been experiencing a rain deficit for several weeks. It isn't unusual for May. Still we wish for those occasional showers to lessen the burden on our plants.

Recently I posted a view of Helen's (my neighbor) amazing display of rain lilies that burst open in all their glory following the last brief rain we had. Nothing really compares to seeing them en masse as she grows them.

This week only days after an unexpected (albeit brief) relief from the dry spell my own small patch of rain lilies (Zephyranthes grandiflora) decided to wake up.

Seeing the spears of bulging pink buds one day means the flowers will open into trumpets of pink pretties the next. (Can you spot the bonus-critter on one of the scapes?)

It's a sure thing. You can count on it.

Opening slowly but fully as the morning wanes and lasting only about 48 hours. Until the next round of buds seemingly shoots up overnight after another good rainshower. All summer long we can expect to see them.
A cheery grouping in a sunny location. This patch is sited on the southside of the pool cage and catches my attention easily from the back porch. They always bring a smile to my face.

Rain Brings the Lilies

Blushing pink Rain Lilies (Zephyranthes) appear quite regularly following ... you guessed it ... a good rain shower in late spring.

Short in height with fairly insignificant grass-like foliage from tiny bulbs that multiply on their own they are repeat bloomers throughout the season. Even into mid-summer flowers will flush out although not as abundant as this time of year.

I wish I could say this mass of lilies is mine. I DO have a few of them scattered in pockets here and there. But not a display quite as stunning as my sweet neighbor, Ms. Helen, across the street from me. She has shared so many wonderful plants with me over the years including many rain lilies.

These plants prefer a location with a good deal of sunshine (which is one reason I don't have more of them). Given a warm site along with a healthy down pour to urge them forth they are an easy, simple-pleasure lily to grow in Florida.

Fortunately for me, Ms. Helen's are planted en masse on the street side where I get to savor their delicate blush of pink and smile everytime I glance over at them.

Rain Lilies Really Do Like Rain

Florida's afternoon rain pattern started in May this year rather than in the usual month of June. Since we have been in a severe drought now, for about umpteen years, the rain has been a welcomed and refreshing element in spring.

Rain lilies, Zephyranthes grandiflora are a no-nonsense little addition to the garden sporting erect, thin, green leaves visible all year long. When those first summer rains begin, towering just above the greenery, shoots several slender buds that open up for a day or two then disappear.

Needless to say, the lilies are blooming early this year.

As the rains continue the plant repeats the pattern consecutively creating more buds and blooms providing the prettiest patches of pink (they do come in white too) all over the garden. Their flowering ability must have something to do with the warm temps of the soil, too. It's a guess on my part but I'm figuring it that way because they don't bloom when it rains in the winter.

My initial rain lily came from my sweet neighbor across the street. She has given me sooooo many varieties of plants over the years. Love her.

As my rain lilies have multiplied I've been digging up the bulbs and transplanting them to every sunny spot that needs a little pick-me-up of pink.

As happy as I am that mine are more numerous than years prior... have a look at my neighbor's in the above photo. Since the middle of May hers have been putting on quite a show stretching about 100 feet across the entire front of her garden near the street side. I'm pretty sure I get to enjoy them more than she does because of where they are sited.

And to think she was so worried about them when the peacocks were daily trampling them this winter. You would never know it today.

Drippy Wet Garden

It's Wednesday night. It started raining here Sunday evening. After not raining here at all for weeks it has rained every day since. It is raining now.

Monday I took advantage of it and was happy to have a legitimate break from the garden. It rained hard all day long.

Tuesday morning in an on again, off again drizzly rain it was time to see what was going in the vegetable garden. Rain was predicted to keep coming.

Of course I had to take a few photos in route to the veggies.

I'm wondering... shouldn't the Oakleaf Hydrangea be setting flowers about now? I surely hope they will bloom for me. The foliage is big and leafy and gorgeous but I really will be happy to know I sited these correctly last year when they first found their home at Hoe and Shovel.With everything sopping wet and many plants falling over from the heavy down pours there was work to be done.

Tomato plants were broken at the top. Some needed to be tied to their stakes as they were falling over from the weight of so much water.

The squash is still setting new fruit. But the zucchini plants are not looking so great.

The intention when I decided it was time to dodge the raindrops was to get out there and pick the rest of the lettuce. It really should have been picked a few days before. It is the last of it. The heat the past two weeks would have done it in completely before now if it hadn't been for the carrot tops offering it much required shade.

When all the picking was piled up this is the bounty that came back into the house. It's always a surprise when a couple of days go by without harvesting.

Overall I don't think the vegetable garden is particularly happy about rain four days straight without much sunshine in between. Vegetables, afterall, do need their sunshine.

It is difficult to complain though. We are in a severe drought and we desperately need the rain. The vegetables will just have to suffer.

Such is the life of a Florida gardener.

A little stroll around to the back yard to see how all this rain is affecting life back there. I found the cosmos have started blooming.

They are the first ever here. Planted from seed back in March and pinched back to make bushier plants they are budding and blooming their sweet little flowers.

When trying to imagine what is in the garden that would be terribly happy over this abundance of liquid from heaven the rain lilies came to mind.
They are happily either budding or flowering. It is worth mentioning, however, blooms are a difficult thing for the gardener to enjoy when cooped up inside the house. Cooped up is not a thing that happens around here very often.

The impatiens that are so thirsty for water on any ordinary day are quite satisfied with this drenching. And the Australian Fern is dancing a little jig that it isn't having to beg for its typical daily hose watering. There are two very enthusiastic fiddles coming up through the center simultaneously.

More rain is in the forecast. This is highly unusual for us in the month of May. We will take the rain over no rain anyday. And we will deal with the lack of sunshine because every Florida gardener knows we are in for a long hot summer with no sunshine deficit for months on end.

A Saturday at Home

It's the first weekend in quite a while we haven't either been out of town or had a huge agenda to tend to. Last night our 5 year old granddaughter stayed here overnight. She'll be six in a couple of weeks. I'm reminded once again how very quickly children move along the path of life without skipping a beat or pausing to stay a little longer at one of my favorite kissy-cheek stages. No, they grow up fast so we endeavor to take the time we have to stop the regularly scheduled pace of life momentarily and treasure every visit.

This morning our 2.5 year old grandson came by to join her for some cousin time. I'm so thankful we are close by to enjoy them as often as we like. What a blessing! We ate breakfast together, tromped around in the the back yard playing for a while and they ended up hot and sweaty and went for a swim in the swimming pool.

They are both enthralled by the wildlife and butterflies in Mimi's garden. We're learning how to recognize some of them by sound as well as by sight and also learning their habitats and characteristics. And, as is the ordinary, I too, was attracted to them with my point and shoot. It happened to be that time of day when the birds come to the feeders for their mid-morning snack.

The first rays of sunlight were a little late streaming through the cloudy start to the day. But like a silent call to all butterflies the sunshine made its appearance and gave their wings the warmth they require to fly...

... and like clockwork the air show began right on cue. Monarchs, swallowtails, sulphurs, skippers, and blues flying about together at times and then separately. From my yard back and forth to my neighbor's ... all seemingly in a competition to see how many different flowers can be visited...

... it didn't take but fifteen minutes to capture these few fluttering critters and flowers to make our outdoor time even more interesting and colorful.
After a very busy week of gardening, except for pulling a few weeds in between setting up the t-ball game, I managed not to do any gardening today. Well, I don't think going out this evening to water all the potted plants (and pulling a few more weeds) counts as gardening.

I noticed the rain we finally got earlier this week gave us another quick flush of the sweet pink rain lilies. Just when you think they are all finished for the year, here they come again.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend of gardening or family or whatever brings you joy.
Meems

Sweet Blush Pink of Rain Lilies

Rain Lily; Zephyranthes grandiflora

If there is a positive aspect in our many rainless weeks of spring it could be that the rain lilies prove they are deserving of their name. When once we have a nice showering from heaven like we did last week...
their habit is to send up lots of budded scapes after a dry spell. Like clockwork, in another day or two the pale pink flowers push out into blooms of cheery lilies. Rain lilies are of a small stature with approximately 12-14" scapes reaching above the evergreen grass-like foliage and the flower is only about 3" in diameter at full spread.

They won't be the central attraction but they definitely add a nice variation and the sweet blushing color is an attention getter for any "lover of pink".

Starting from bulbs or rhizomes these easily grown lovers of Zone 8-11 are perfect for a sunny spot or partial shade in the garden. They especially appreciate crowded conditions like the rest of the family of Amaryllidaceae.

Mine were started from a neighbor passalong who grows a sea of them in her front gardens. Slowly each year (dividing in spring) I've found more places to poke a spot of them in between other plantings for the sheer enjoyment they offer every time they come around.

Great performance with continual rounds of blooms throughout the summer months can be counted on which makes them an automatic must-have in Florida.