Hi there everyone!

I'm a relatively new (but very enthusiastic!) gardener who moved into a new home in the late summer of 2016. Last year, I planted a few annual flowers, but mostly was observing, identifying, and figuring out what in the landscape to keep and what to get rid of. This year, I want to get started in on the work of transforming my yard (ie. creating a flower-splosion ).

On the east side of my garage, there are some irises, tuberoses (YESS!), and some mystery bulb. I don't even remember seeing it at all last year, let alone seeing it bloom! I just know it's not an iris. I think. Whatever it is, it looks crowded. Maybe someone could let me know what type of flower it might be from the leaves?


Not pointy like the irises.

Then I have a couple of different kinds of daffodils - regular yellow ones and ones with a bunch of little flowers per stalk. They look really crowded, too, and I'd like to dig them up and spread them out a bit - when would be the best time to do that? After they die down in the summer, or should I wait until winter?


These little ones smell jasminey.



Poor things got flattened by rain.


Amanda

Welcome to the site

The top pic looks like Clivias.

Best to divide bulbs after they have flowered and the leaves have died down and turned brown (do not cut the foliage) than dig and separate.

and congrats on your new home. You've come to the right place for advice regarding gardening and creating your flower-splosion.

I'm too am curious about what the plants are in the 1st photo. I'd be surprised if they are clivias. They must be some spring blooming bulbous plant. We'll have a more definite ID when it blooms. You mentioned not remembering them blooming last year. Could that be because they bloom after the leaves have died down, such is the case with lycoris spider lilies, naked ladies or amaryllis belladona?

with RJ about digging and transplanting after the leaves have fed the bulbs for the next season and have died down.

Thank you so much @crawgarden and @deebie!

I was thinking that I could move the daffodils after the foliage dies down, thanks for confirming that. I love their blooms, but they don't do too much since they're all bunched together. There are also some wonderful little ones near my fence line - almost like miniature daffodils - that I want to bring up near the rest. I'll be doing a lot of digging!

Speaking of digging, I've got about 17 jillion red spider lily bulbs (lycoris) scattered all over the place. I don't really like them, so I'll be digging all those up. Do y'all think that anyone might want those, or would I be better off chucking them in the compost?

Yeah, I'm really curious to see what this mystery bulb is. I don't remember it blooming last year, but then I don't remember the leaves, either. I sure didn't see anything like the clivia blooms I looked up pictures of. If it does bloom this year, I'll be sure to post a picture - and y'all can tell me what it is!

Now off to flood the forum with the rest of my questions, ha ha!

Don't compost those spider lily bulbs. One man's junk is another man's treasure. You can use the classified forum or plant trade forum to offer them either for postage or offer to trade for something else that you would like to have. I happen to love them and would use them to plant around my trees for nice fall color, if I could get a hold of more.

MarmorealArbor said:Thank you so much @crawgarden and @deebie!
Yeah, I'm really curious to see what this mystery bulb is. I don't remember it blooming last year, but then I don't remember the leaves, either. I sure didn't see anything like the clivia blooms I looked up pictures of. If it does bloom this year, I'll be sure to post a picture - and y'all can tell me what it is!

Now off to flood the forum with the rest of my questions, ha ha!

Amanda, since you looked up the clivic blooms and they did not look like anything you remember, could you give a description of the blooms you saw?

MarmorealArbor said:
Speaking of digging, I've got about 17 jillion red spider lily bulbs (lycoris) scattered all over the place. I don't really like them, so I'll be digging all those up. Do y'all think that anyone might want those, or would I be better off chucking them in the compost?

I'll gladly take the spider lilies off your hands for postage! I've been wanting them for years, but just never get around to getting them.

Amanda!

I think your mystery bulb foliage may be Surprise Lilies, the leaves strongly resemble mine. They're called Surprise Lilies because after the leaves die back in late spring, the naked bloom stalks arise very suddenly in late summer- they seem to appear over night! They tend to bloom well when crowded, and have a tendency to sulk and produce no blooms for a year or so after being divided, so you may want to wait and see if they bloom this summer before dividing the bulbs. Here are photos of the blooms and one of foliage for comparison:


I agree with others that you should offer your red spider lilies for trade. They're fairly pricey from bulb vendors, so I imagine other gardeners will be thrilled to have some (if they were hardy here, I know I would!).

I was just going to say what Neal already said, mine are up now too. They multiply very fast. Maybe they were just planted a couple of years ago? Like Neal said, they don't bloom for a year after they are divided.

@crawgarden I don't remember even seeing any foliage last year where the mystery bulbs are, much less flowers! I mean, there must've been, but I sure don't remember seeing anything but the irises and tuberoses. That's why I'm super curious now to see what they are.

@gemini_sage Oooh, wow, those pink lilies are gorgeous! I'm definitely going to wait and see what they do before I go trying to move them. It's funny, though - down here the red spider lilies are called 'surprise lilies.' And they grow like weeds! I didn't know they were sold at all. Here, they're kind of like fruitcake - everybody's always trying to give them to someone else. :P

@alilyfan I'm hoping that they might be those lovely pink surprise lilies. I'd resigned myself to not being able to grow any lilies since lilies are so super toxic to cats - as much as I love flowers, my babies are more important! It only seems to be true lilies that are toxic, though - I can't find anything on any of the lycoris being harmful. So yay!

Thank you all so much, and I'll keep you updated on what's going on in the bulb patch!

It sounds about right that the red spider lilies would also be called surprise lilies, they're in the same genus as the pink ones and have the same habit of arising quickly with no foliage present.

I've read that true lilies are toxic to cats, but I think that's only a problem with house cats being exposed to a potted lily indoors. House cats are often drawn to chew on various kinds of plants since there's no grass to chew. I've always had cats, both indoors and out, but none have ever touched any of my lilies in the garden. I think they prefer grass and seem to instinctively avoid toxic plants in nature.

I've always had cats, and many, many lilies. Never have I seen a cat nibble on a lily, or any other toxic plant I might grow. My neighbor's cat is determined to nap in the middle of my day lilies, and may find that bad for her health one of these days. She has survived so far because she is so sweet

My cats are strictly indoor, but I'm kinda paranoid that I'd maybe forget to wash my hands after messing with lilies or something and make one of them sick. I guess something like that isn't very likely though. Cats inside, lilies outside, and never the twain shall meet!

The storm right now has probably got them smushed flat to the ground, but yesterday when I was outside, I took some pictures of this little guy. I just can't get over those adorable flowers! Does anyone know what sort of daffodil this is?

I think it is likely to be Avalanche. Often called "Seventeen Sisters"

Amanda I would for sure say that your foliage belongs to lycoris squamigera. I also am in zone 8a and the foliage is up here also. They don't bloom every year, even when the leaves come up like this.
You 've got a gold mine on the red spider lilies for trading or selling. Bulb catalogs charge alot.

That's so crazy to me - they are *really* widespread all around southwest Arkansas. I've got a big cardboard box full of them in the garage that's been there since last summer and hundreds more to dig out of my yard. They're almost weedy here!

Somebody needs to come down here, dig them all up, and make their fortune!

Daffodils can be moved "in the green". Most growers do that now anyway. If you do this, just make sure to take a lot of the surrounding soil & try not to disturb the roots.