Inconsistent Favoritism

My husband accuses me of being quite fickle when it comes to the naming of my favorite flower. In the early spring, I'm enthralled with my azaleas. A few weeks later, my adoration shifts to the peonies planted along the south wall of our garage. Then, of course, there's the iris, the clematis, the rose, all of which he's heard me exclaim in terms of preferential exclusion. (I'm only slightly offended when he laughs out loud at my inability to make a decision.)

In my own defense, I'm steadfast in my devotion to flower color. I'm crazy for pink in all its hues and variations. Recently, I read an article on this subject and learned the color pink is favored by most gardeners. To narrow the scope further, the hue of pink I desire most in a flower is the bubblegum pink of the Pink Double Delight Echinacea. Awesome! In summation, pink flowers rock my world.

And then the Jacobean lily blooms . . .


Okay, red is definitely not my favorite flower color. It doesn't even reign in as a close second (I prefer purple in terms of color succession) but, there's something very alluring about the vibrancy of the Jacobean lily, sprekelia formosissima. How to describe it?

Movie-star, lipstick red?

Sexy little red dress red?

Sports car red?

One way or another, the color is visually seductive. When it blooms in early July, all the other flowers in the garden suddenly pale in comparison.

A member of the amaryllis family, the Jacobean lily is a native of Mexico and Guatemala, z13-15, according to my bible: The American Horticultural Society A-Z encyclopedia of Garden Plants. So, when I was able to cultivate this bulb in z5, I deemed it short of miraculous. However, upon further research, I learned that many gardeners have had success cultivating it in z8-10. Nevertheless, I'm still z5, right? Turns out there's nothing all that unique about my gardening prowess. There's a guy in Nebraska, z4, who propagates this species in his garden on a yearly basis. He does admit to digging the bulbs before a killing frost and storing them in his basement.

Not to toot my own horn, but I never lift my bulbs from the ground or disturb them in any way because sprekelia, in its own right, has a capricious nature and might refuse to bloom the following season. So how does such a fickle flower survive in my garden in z5? Purely by fluke.

I was in WalMart a few years back and spring bulbs in their garden department were on 75% off clearance. The photograph of the sprekelia on the package caught my eye although the package itself was devoid of propagation information. At four bulbs for a dollar, I threw zone discretion to the wind and bought them. I rushed home and immediately consulted my bible (AHS A-Z) and much to my chagrin, discovered my newly purchased bulbs preferred undisturbed ground in a warm winter climate.

So be it. At that time, nothing much was growing under the dryer vent on the south side of my house so I dug a hole and unceremoniously tossed them in. A few flowerless sprigs of strap-like foliage unfurled from the ground that season.

Truthfully, by the next spring, I'd forgotten about those bulbs until I noticed their green fronds pushing up through the cypress mulch. By planting them in such an arid spot, I had accidentally assimilated their natural climate. The Jacobean lily has been growing and blooming there ever since.

So is the Jacobean lily my favorite flower? When its in full bloom in July, it is.