Herself’s Houston Garden

blood lily

I found these at Mercer March Mart’s and planted the bulbs that spring. Nothing happened for a year. I wrote them off as a loss. Then much to my surprise they all showed up early June. So be patient, they may take 18 months before showing themselves.

Plant in sun to part shade. You will get showier flowers in sunnier areas and the flowers will last longer in part shade.

Like most bulbs it will want moist soil in the warm months, and drier soil in the colder months.

Blooms appear in the summer, it may take a couple of years after you plant the bulb for it to bloom. Blooms only last a couple of weeks. Berries appear after the flowers.

Plant dies back in the winter and appears in the warm weather, usually after a rainstorm.

Plant will naturalize.

Plant is toxic, don’t eat it. Arrows are coated in the toxin from this plant in African tribal areas. It is also used a medicinal plant but I would not try it.

Problems:
This is part of the amaryllis family and can be attacked by amaryllis lily borers. Snails and slugs may also bother it.

This plant is one of the reasons I love our subtropical climate. It may take a few years before I see a flower, usually the plant must be 6 years old before flowering.

The leaf is just one leaf which is what you see in the photo right now.

The flower, when it arrives, will be purple and like a calla lily but about 2′ high on a stalk that is about 5′ tall and stinking of rotten meat. The smell only lasts a few days so don’t let that keep you from growing this plant. The plant is fertilized by beetles in its native habitats of Indonesia.

The flower arrives first in the spring usually in May, and after the flower is gone the leaf will arrive a month or so later in June.

This plant wants bog conditions or a pond or at the very least daily watering. But may rot if we have a wet winter. This one died during a summer drought.

Plant in the shade. I find it is susceptible to leaf scorch in dry, windy conditions.

It will eventually form a clump of plants.

Many local gardeners grow this in pots and take it in when cold, but there is no need, it should winter over just fine in Houston.

Each year the tubers of this plant shrink to be replaced by larger ones that grow over the summer.

It is susceptible to nematodes.

Its cousin amorphophallus titanum is the one that makes the news when it blooms. That flower is about 9′ tall.

More information:
This issue of Wayne’s Word is Dedicated to Stinking Flowers

This is a plant I picked up a March Mart and it went into bloom late Oct. It is a great plant in that it likes shade and blooms late in the year when little else is blooming.

It will reach 2′-3′ in height when full grown and spread about 2′.

Toad lilies prefer part shade but will bloom happily in full shade too. They will get leggy if they need more sun. Feel free to cut it back, it will grow back up again.

Water should be average to wet, but not dry. It will go dormant if it gets too dry. We are at the lower edge of where it will grow, it prefers a cooler climate.

This one has spread and thrived so far. It is in an area of average dampness and quite shady.

Toad lily handles Houston’s extreme temperatures easily.

Blooms appear in October and it blooms for about a month or two depending on the weather.

If you like unusual flowers, or are looking for a small plant that will bloom in fall in the shade, consider this one. The photos don’t do it justice. This is one of my favorite plants and I’ve put in a second one.

Over half of these plants are found in Japan, where they are native. They have not yet spread much beyond there.