Surprise!

These little plants are so strange, they deserve a post of their own.













In that same corner of the yard, on the side where grass and loosestrife quarrel, on the side where a cottontail made a nest in the spring, five leafless tulip-like buds have grown.



















See them? Like stiff green snakes in a jungle of grass? With kissy pink lips. ;)

I'm hoping for surprise lilies.

Surprise lilies have got to be some of the most interesting plants I know of. In the spring, they sprout a rosette of 'long, amaryllis-type leaves' (that sounds familiar!) that die down by summer. And then in late summer (that'd be now) KAPOW! Out of nowhere, 2-foot naked stems shoot from the ground and bloom into 6 or 8 pink lily flowers in the most decadent shades of pink. This habit invited names like "nekkid ladies", "pink flamingo flower", "resurrection lily". They're often found around old fences and foundations. I wonder how long these have been here?

Last year, before we moved, I planted two bulbs in pots and waited. Their leaves came and went, but never any flowers! I blame the squirrels. So if these are surprise lilies, magic lilies, spider lily, whatever, I will be soooo happy! And the buds look a deep, winey pink too. Luscious!