Finally, summer’s Death Star heat grip has loosened: Central Texas received much needed rain and our temperatures have cooled–a bit. Afternoons are warm, but tolerable, mornings and evenings are quite lovely; the gardener and her gardens rejoice! In response to the rain, non-native, but naturalized Oxblood Lily, Rhodophiala bifida, have popped up overnight from their cozy bulbs snuggled in the ground, delivering atop their fleshy stems resplendent red flowers for all to admire.

The lilies are fresh as daisies, but you’ll notice the results of August’s heat in the foliage of the Giant Liriope situated behind the lilies.

Here sit three of the dozen-or-so groups of Oxblood Lilies in my back garden, showcasing their rich crimson colors.

A closer look…

Accompanying the lilies are native Inland Sea Oats, Chasmanthium latifolium, Mexican Feathergrass, Nassella tenuissima, and some summer-weary Iris foliage.

The weekend was cloudy and drizzly, but today the sun reappeared and the lilies shone.

The Oxbloods will bloom a couple of weeks and it’s likely other clusters will pop up. I never remember where I’ve planted the bulbs until the flowers arrive and demand their share of garden attention. In the past, this glorious event occurred in late August or early September, but as our hot and dry period stretches into actual autumn, the flowers don’t appear until late September or early October. Once the blooms are done, attractive grassy foliage emerges and remains winter hardy. Only the warmth of late spring will end the lily foliage, the bulbs resting in the soil during hot summer months, until autumn’s first rain beckons the blooms back.

Native rain lilies have also emerged with the rain, their sweet white blooms blanketing roadway medians and many neighbors’ lawns. Regretfully, I don’t grow any of the native lilies and must rectify that missing garden link.

But for now, I appreciate what I have!