Zephyranthes

Zephyranthes, on its common name known as Rain Flower, Windflower, Rain Lily, Zephyr Lily, Magic Lily or Fairy Lily is a genus of 71 species of bulbous perennials in the amaryllis family, some of them evergreen. But the most used name for the small and delicate Zephyranthes is Rain Lily because they tend to send up a flush of bloom about four days after each rainy spell. The flowers are erect, funnel-shaped to tubular, often crocus-like and vary in color from white or yellow to pink or red. The flowers appear from spring to autumn.

Used in borders, in a rock garden or as groundcover, their green, grass-like, flat foliage form quickly a wide clump, each clump having up to 20 flowers open at the same time providing an absolutely stunning display. Spectacular effects can be achieved when used in mass plantings. They are great planted along sunny pathways, among pavings or naturalized in the lawn. All this kind of plantings can be done only if you are not in a frost-prone areas. If you live in a frost-prone area you can still grow Zephyranthes in an alpine house or cool greenhouse or even as house plants. If you still want to have them in your garden, then plant them in containers, place them around the garden for summer enjoyment, then bring the whole container back indoor over the winter.

If you are not in a fros-prone area, plant the bulbs in fall 2.5-5 cm deep and 7 cm apart and left them in the garden through many winters, otherwise, plant the bulbs in spring and dig them out in fall and store them over winter in dry peat moss, perlite or vermiculite at 10-16 Celsius degrees (50-60 F).

Zephyranthes prefer a place in full sun and a moist but well-drained soil if grown outdoors. If grown in containers, underglass, use a loam-base potting compost with added sharp sand and place the container in full light. In growth periods you can water them freely and apply a balanced liquid fertilizer every 4 weeks. Keep them just moist in winter. If grown outdoor, protect them from winter wet.

You can propagate Zephyranthes by sowing seeds at 13-18 Celsius degrees (55-64 F) as soon as they ripe or by separating offsets in spring as most often you will find when you will dig them up lots of little bulbs sprouting from underneath.