Sept. 16, 2022

COMMON NAMES / HURRICANE LILY

Botanical names of plants are utterly important but I also just love and cherish common names... they offer an extreme sense of place, community and seasonality. And very often you can learn tons about a plant from its various common names. (And sometimes things you would rather not know… dark parts of history oddly expressed through plants).

Take this non native but magical perennial bulb for instance.... Lycoris radiata, brought over from the Asian continent by way of Japan to Louisiana.

I was raised calling this flower, that comes faithfully in our STILL very hot and humid late summer weeks, "Hurricane Lily".

Though we are deep into hurricane season already in southern Louisiana, this flower comes at a time that almost symbolizes the height of our storm season.

Our good friend Jlayun, though, calls this flower "first sign of fall".... where she is from in China, this flower says that fall has officially arrived.

And there are so many more names for this plant. Most plants carry with them sometimes dozens of common names that tell their natural history as they relate to humans. How special!

It is our first year at our new home and these beauties are popping up everywhere... planted and spread over the years with the guidance of the lands former guardian, sweet and forever interesting Mrs. Peggy...The 95 year old lady who started gardening  here in 1972 when she bought this land with her husband Bob.

-Jess