even the sex kittens of the floral kingdom....
....get tired.
They used to be so taut and new, so fleshy and fragrant. Their arrival on the scene met with flushed “oooohhhhs,” even the most soulless among us paid attention. But now, past their nubility, whole cliques are withered and drooping, barely noticeable in the crowd. Naked ladies — so temporal, such teases.
Last year I wrote a post about Amaryllis belladonna, colloquially known as “naked ladies” for their bare stems (they do have leaves, they’re just not timed with the flowers, coming up instead a few months before in order to harvest the springtime sunshine, which is then stored for the energy-intensive flowering a few months later). Native to South Africa, these blatantly beautiful blossoms thrive on the Mediterranean-climed central coast of Cali, emerging as the summer deepens from July to August. Indeed, there were tons this year – hopefully you managed to capture at least a glimpse and whiff.
bulging fruits with the dead petals still hanging on
naked ladies make future naked ladies, and the world rejoices.
Yet I’d never noticed what happens with Amaryllis belladonna after flowering. If successfully fertilized — and really, what pollinator wouldn’t want to dip deep into a naked lady? — the flower is, of course, followed by a fruit. The fruit has three chambers, which makes sense since the flower has three petals (does it look like the flower has six? Yes, but the outside three petals are actually tepals, which is the term given to sepals — i.e. bud covers — that are viturally indistinguisable from the petals. This is very common in lily species, Lilium.).
The quarter-inch, round seeds are gorgeous, fleshy and dark pink on the outside and a more translucent pink on the interior. Though most of these invasive individuals come up year after year from bulbs, they can also be planted from seed, which increases the genetic variability in the population rather than relying on asexual reproduction, which results in genetically less-viable clones.
shiny seeds, pink pearls
see the baby plant inside? Life: It works.
packaged and almost ready to go
According to gardenguides.com, naked ladies aren’t hard to plant from seed but the seedling can take a long time to flower. They love full sun and well-drained, sandy soil, so pick an appropriate spot (the site also says they prefer “rich” soil. This may be true; however I’ve always seen them growing in crappy dirt, such as disturbed roadsides, in medians, and neglected lots, which seems to reflect their growing conditions in South Africa where the soil is typically old and depleted, having escaped enrichment from periods of glaciation and volcanism.) Sow the seeds immediately after harvest, about 1/4″-1/2″ down. Keep the soil moist for the seedlings, though after the plants are established, they’re extremely drought-tolerant and, unlike so many naked ladies, are forgiving of neglect.
dead stems, as seen with Toxicodendron diversilobium (aka "poison oak")
If you’re already enjoying a clump or a dozen and don’t care about checking out the pretty fruits, cut back the dead stalks after the flowers have wilted. This is very merciful, ensuring the bulbs don’t expend energy needlessly producing fruits, and can instead hang out underground until sending up their pre-flower leaves in the spring.
