Rain Lilies

Rain Lilies

After the big rain we had 2 weeks ago I had a flush of pretty pink flowers on my rain lilies (Zephyranthes rosea). Rain lilies are also known as fairy lilies. They might be just the thing for a fairy garden if you like those things, but they are also an interesting and charming edition to the summer garden or patio.

I got my bulbs about 4 years ago, from Old House Gardens in Michigan but they are available from other places. (There’s a list of garden catalogs on the pages listed to the right of this main blog.)  Rain lilies are native to South and Central America and are not hardy below zone 9 but they are quite easy to overwinter.  They are relatively inexpensive so you could also treat them as annuals.

There are over 70 species of rain lilies but only 3 species are commonly available to gardeners. Besides the pink rain lilies, Zephyranthes candida, a white flowered rain lily, and Zephyranthes citrina, a yellow flowered one are sometimes available.  There are some hybrids on the market too, but these are hard to find.

The foliage of rain lilies is grass like and unless it gets very dry and cold it stays evergreen and attractive.  Plants are about 12-18 inches tall. Rain lily flowers are shaped like large crocus flowers and they appear in flushes, after a dry spell and then a rain they burst into bloom. Blooming lasts a few days.  The flushes repeat several times a season if conditions are right.

Gardeners will find rain lilies offered as bulbs, generally sold in the spring.  The best way to grow them for northern gardeners is to plant 6 of the small bulbs in a 10 inch pot. Use a good potting medium and add a slow release plant food for blooming plants. They will slowly multiply to fill the pot over a few years.  Place the pot outside after all danger of frost has passed in a sunny location. 

Keep the rain lilies watered until you get good growth started.  After that, let nature handle the watering for the most part.  If there is a really long stretch of dry weather – a couple weeks if it’s hot- they should be deep watered.  This may promote a bloom flush.  If summer is unusually wet you may get just one bloom period.  A few weeks of dry hot weather and then a good rain is what triggers blooming.

When frost threatens simply pick up your pot and bring it inside to a place where it stays above freezing.  If that place is well lit the rain lily leaves will remain green.  If you use a basement or dim place for storage the plants may go dormant and the foliage disappears.

While in winter storage water the lilies sparingly. The pot should dry out between watering.  If the foliage has disappeared don’t water at all until late spring.  The plants won’t normally bloom in the winter.  Sometimes in a warm, bright location with the proper dry and then wet cycle the rain lilies will bloom.  This is more likely in late spring. 

In the spring, after all danger of frost has passed, move your pot of rain lilies back outside to a sunny place.   Work some slow release fertilizer into the soil.  Water well to get them awake and growing if it’s dry and soon blooms will appear again.  Every 2-3 years you may want to re-pot and divide the bulbs to start a new pot.

Alternately you can plant rain lilies in the garden and dig the bulbs in the fall before frost and store them as you would glad corms, or canna tubers.  Re-pot in spring. In zone 9 and above they can be left in the ground all year.  Choose a garden spot that isn’t being irrigated regularly and is well drained for best chances of the rain lilies blooming.

Rain lilies are nice for rock gardens and those “rain gardens” designed to catch storm water. They can also be planted at the feet of things like a potted rose or hibiscus that have been trained into tree form. 

One caution, all parts of rain lilies are toxic so keep them out of the reach of children and pets.