The Hot, the Loud & the Proud

It was morning,
somehow it was one of the days after a very time where I actually get to sleep a little late. Rarely do I get this kind of opportunity to sleep without rushing myself every morning.
(no sending my wife to work, no marketing, no weekend course to attend - just pure bliss)

Earlier, there was a slight drizzle - sort of a motion where the sun had also snugged between the clouds..

Thought of breakfast..
hmm.. coffee...
(wondered if my wife had already boiled water but yes I got a list of chores to do)

Then, I heard shouting outside my garden...
pretended not hear and I just tossed to the other side of the bed burying my head with a pillow.
Wished I had more time to roll & toss over, its still 8am.

Nope, I still can hear the noise,
"OK, Whats the commotion all about?"

I saw two sisters more like having a LOUD heated arguments, surprised me I blurted,
"Oh! Its you, finally you came -after all these years!!!"
"Cream is your theme I see?"

They seemed to see me in shock - silent.

Adjusting to awkwardness - still rubbing my eyes (Am I dreaming)
"So, you brought some HOT visitors with you?"
"Well, Aren't you going to introduce them?"

"Or you all playing PROUD with me - Eh??"
"OK, Im having my coffee first"


.
Thought of something, hot, loud & proud in my garden.
.
Thanks to Noel from A Plant Fanatic in Hawaii who invited me to write this meme.
Do check the link here for more of this meme from other gardeners.
.
Well of course - the ( last pic.) bougainvillea carried the trophy but because she is too proud, she never actually bloomed in my garden - somehow that one got all 3 very well fitting for the title..
.
Perhaps??
.

Rain Lily - Zephyranthes

Its known as rain lilies because of their habit of blooming several times a season, usually following a rain. I'm not sure about that but I often noticed is that when a grass cutter comes around and accidentally cut the whole crown together with other weeds thinking that this is one of them.

And the gardener gets a reward with a showy springs of new sprouts of flower scape - usually within 2 - 3 days time. And this happens every time. (I had trimmed the leaves after planting and they gave 4 flowers immediately)

The leaves look very much like grass, that is if you are not accustom to rainlilies - you would wonder why do a gardener breed weeds. I had several pots of these and none of them bloomed for months. (planted first - July 09) One thing for sure, they really had multiplied from the first batch.

You can see it here how I first started: Rainlily

I have decided to put them in a long rectangular pot instead of the circular ones - they seemed to look prettier this way. I also manage to do the same for my Amaryllis bulbs - something which I had never seen them bloom, so I'm really not sure how they look like.

I have been reading a lot these few days about blooming Amaryllis but as for now, I had replanted them back and so I do not want to damage them in uprooting them again. Probably I will keep watch over these for another couple of months and see, If they do not bloom, chances are I might just uproot them and throw them away (Just kidding)
A more drastic move may be removing them and place them in dormancy & later "force bloom" them. See if these changes their mind and give their precious blooms soon.

These were passed to me by my mum last year as she had gave up on them.

Some tips to consider:

1) Rainlilies need a good amount of sunlight, they may not bloom in shaded area.

2) Its been said also that over watering can cause bulb rot - so do watch out for that.

3) They will also seed freely, do collect them if you are planning to plant them using seeds.

4) Do not uproot them by putting them out from the soil, rather you may need to turn the pot upside down and slowly break the soil-bound roots and loose the bulb and slowly remove them to save the pups. It would be very difficult to remove the bulbs once planted directly on the ground - unless you intend to keep them there permanently, consider planting them on pots then place them on the soil for easier digging & etc.

I have tried to pull a bulb planted in an abandoned area but I was unsuccessful as the bulb had gone very strong with roots and all and I manage only to get some of the succulent leaves in my few failed attempts. Probably a spade might help but there may be some damage occurring on the bulb & the roots.

.

The bulbs had given a lot of "pups" by the sides -these what they have been doing sitting in the pot, instead of flowering, they have been making babies.

.

.

The rain was heavy for these few days and had washed the top soil that had covered the 1/3 of the bulb. May have to top some soil later.

.

Rain Lily blooms

Finally all of my rain lilies bloomed.
Ahh... they are so lovely...

Rain Lily Flower Buds

I had planted these last weekend (rain with rain lilies) from a pot my mum gave me. I managed to put them in 6 small pots. I had trimmed all the existing leaves from the bulb and replanted them, hopefully all of them bloom at the same time.


I was so happy to note that there where 6 flower buds just shot up just within 3 days (sort of resurrection flower). I took them inside and tried to get a good clear picture but it was not satisfactory.

These pic. was taken on last Tuesday night.

These taken on the Wed. morning (1st July)

The first bloom flower today (2nd July)