While digging deep in the front garden of my 1923 Los Angeles home, I found some bulbs and decided to try to see if they'd grow. Grow they did, AND bloom, gloriously! I LOVE these flowers and want to plant more, but have had no luck identifying them. I'm almost positive they were planted by the original owner, which makes them practically antiques! Can anyone help me to identify these incredible flowers?
Definitely Hymenocallis. It's a genus with beautiful flowers; not sufficiently appreciated. We have a number of species native to Florida, including one that lives among the mangroves!
Thank you so much for your response! I absolutely LOVE these flowers and it was one of the great thrills of my LIFE to have uncovered these bulbs, inexpertly re-postioned/planted them, and have them respond like this! I am anything but a horticulturalist! I had a feeling that these flowers were somehow connected to the Lily family, they look so gothic. The woman who built and owned my house in 1923 was somewhat gothic herself, being a guitar & mandolin virtuoso - many of the detials of the house are very gothic. Can you tell me if these flowers are easily available? I want to fill my gardens with them! Thanks again, Jane
Hymenocallis ("Peruvian daffodil") is sort of a marginal item in bulb catalogs and at garden centers. They're usually sold in spring. A quick look at the Brent & Becky website turned up several varieties in their summer catalog. http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/summer/genus.php?genusid=95
Thank you very much for the link! I didn't see one that matched exactly, so I checked further and now believe the name of the flower I have is Hymenocallis caribaea. Do you think that's correct? Not being a professional, I'm not sure how to identify specific species or which characteristics I need to hone in on. Do I count the petals? The shape of the cup is more web-like on mine than on the varieties I saw for sale, and I gather these are only available at certain times of the year. Are these somewhat rare? Thanks again, Jane
