How Fast Do Surprise Lilies Grow?

Lycoris Family

• Surprise lilies are part of the amaryllis family, but nomenclature is often confusing. A pink and lavender cultivar (Lycoris squamigera), a red (Lycoris rediata) and a reddish orange cultivar (Lycoris sanguine) are are all part of the surprise lily family. The lavender Lycoris squamigera is hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9. The other two cultivars are hardy from USDA zones 6 through 10. Plants grow from bulbs that naturalize easily in well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Lycoris are called surprise, magic or resurrection lilies for their habit of rising suddenly in late summer after their leaves have died. Their other name, naked lady, refers to their leafless stalks. Along the Gulf Coast, they are also known as hurricane lilies because they bloom in late summer as hurricane season revs up.

Growth

• Surprise lilies appear to grow contrary to the way many flowering plants grow. They seem to flower first and grow leaves afterward. In reality, each plant’s leaves grow leaves for several years, gathering energy to provide food for the coming flower. The straplike leaves grow in late fall, winter and spring and die back in early summer. The plant breaks its summer dormancy between late July and early September, depending on variety. The naked scape’s sudden appearance above bare ground begins the next year’s growth cycle and the leaves that follow store food for the following year’s growth.

Surprise

• Although the hesitance of the surprise lily’s leaves to appear is unusual, bulbs typically gather energy after bloom. The surprise lily just grows more efficiently than many bulbs. The ultimate surprise of this plant lies in its flowering. Where other bulbs may take weeks to raise a scape, the long stem that bears the flowers, surprise lily scapes rise from bare ground overnight. Within four to five days, several lily-like flowers bud and bloom atop the scape, seemingly without any foliage to support it.

Uses

• Surprise lilies bloom late in the season after many perennials have finished blooming, giving hard-working annuals a graceful background in the garden and borders. They also naturalize in lawns and ground cover, although planting bulbs in lawns requires some care when mowing. The plants introduce a novelty in their growth habit. Many surprise lily species produce stamens -- threadlike parts of the flower that bear pollen -- radiating out beyond the flower’s corolla -- the outline of the flower’s petals -- in a dramatic spray. Perhaps most interesting for penny-pinching perennial gardeners, surprise lily bulbs propagate at a rate that allows division every three to five years.