Getting Rain Lilies to Bloom

Monica Swartz eciton@alumni.utexas.net
Sat, 23 Nov 2013 19:33:11 PST
Thanks for the floral tube clarification on the Cooperia, Alberto. 
You are correct of course, the giant prairie lily has a shorter 
floral tube. The wide leaf difference is still likely to work for 
most folks growing these rain lilies because the original source for 
the plants in cultivation was probably the Austin and San Antonio 
area. A surprising number of species now common in horticulture were 
collected and distributed from here. I used to think it was a result 
of the concentration of plant geeks in Austin for the Universities 
(like me). Now I believe that any plant that has evolved to survive 
the extreme weather and dreadful alkaline clay soils here could be 
planted nearly anywhere and grown by the blackest of thumbs. The area 
has been a rich mine for horticulture.
Thanks for the complements, I'm a long-time fan of your botanical wizardry!

Monica Swartz  randomly seesawing between the 90sF and freezing and 
back again, a typical fall in Austin, TX



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