Texas spiderlily (Hymenocallis liriosme) blooms March to May and prefers swampy or other moist bottomland, banks of streams, and ditches along the Gulf Coast and in East Texas. The plant can grow 40 inches tall. The elegant varietal gets its genus name from the Greek kallos, meaning “beautiful,” and hymen, which means “membrane.
An elegant and unusual-looking flower, the spider lily has a stem 1-3 feet high, with 2 or 3 blossoms at the top. The flower has 3 white sepals and 3 petals which are alike and unite to form a tube 2-4 inches long, narrow but spreading, and curving backward slightly as they age. The flowers are quite fragrant. The glossy leaves, at the base of the plant, are 6-30 inches long and 1 inch wide.
If you grew up in Texas, or if you’ve gardened here very long, you know this plant from old neighborhoods all over our state. It’s by far the best known of all our fall-flowering bulbs, and it’s ready to dazzle for another great year. Botanically, spider lilies go by the name Lycoris radiata. They’re a southern heirloom bulb (best in Zone 7 and southward) that our great-grandmothers grew, usually beneath large trees where they had little competition from lawngrasses and flowers. For most of my lifetime, I knew spider lilies as passalong plants that were handed from one family member, friend or neighbor to another. Only in the past 20 or 25 years have I seen them sold in nurseries with any regularity. In fact, they’re in stores right now, so shop soon, hopefully before they come into bloom in your town. Once people see them, they sell out very quickly.
Spider lilies do best when they’re planted in afternoon shade and allowed to remain undisturbed for many years. Yes, they do multiply, but they do so rather slowly. Regional and national bulb vendors sell them as well. Spider lily bulbs are about the size of ping pong balls, which means you’ll want to plant them 3 or 4 inches deep. I prefer to plant mine in clumps of several bulbs just a couple of inches apart, rather than in long, straight rows. When they’re in full bloom spider lilies grow to 15 or 18 inches in height, so you can use them toward the fronts of your perennial gardens. Mark where you plant them, however, because there is absolutely no sign of them from late spring when their foliage disappears until they start flowering early in the fall, and you might otherwise be tempted to start planting annuals or other perennials right where you have them.