Plant Pick: Amaryllis belladonna (naked ladies)

		Great Plant Picks
	Amaryllis belladonna

You might think that half the fun of growing this bulb is telling people its common name, but there's more to it than that. Amaryllis belladonna is an old-fashioned, fall-blooming flower that is a true Amaryllis, not like the holiday, indoor bulbs that look similar (but are in a separate, although related genus, Hippeastrum). Naked ladies are so called because, in early autumn, the flower stem comes out of the ground without any accompanying leaves -- the leaves grow in spring and die back in summer. Atop each 18- to 24-inch stem is a cluster of trumpet-shaped, fragrant pink flowers. Naked ladies are long-lived and grow into enormous bulbs, although you wouldn't know that unless you dug one up -- try not to, because they don't like being disturbed. Plant in full sun, and provide no summer water. Amaryllis belladonna is a 2008 Great Plant Pick (greatplantpicks.org).

-- Marty Wingate