SKU: 37180609752
spider plant red

spider plant red Red Spider Lily, Lycoris radiata, heirloom bulbs – The Southern Bulb Co

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spider plant red Red Spider Lily, Lycoris radiata, heirloom bulbs – The Southern Bulb CoRed Spider Lily (Lycoris radiata): A Gardener's Guide to the Enchanting Resurrection Flower Red spider lilies are beloved perennials that thrive in zones 7 10, bringing a burst of vibrant beauty to gardens when fall rains arrive. A Lily of Many Names: The Red Spider Lily's Regional Nickname: One of our favorite things about the red spider is its many names as you travel across the country. This also makes for interesting conversations with our

Red Spider Lily (Lycoris radiata): A Gardener's Guide to the Enchanting Resurrection Flower

Red spider lilies are beloved perennials that thrive in zones 7-10, bringing a burst of vibrant beauty to gardens when fall rains arrive.

A Lily of Many Names: The Red Spider Lily's Regional Nickname:

One of our favorite things about the red spider is its many names as you travel across the country. This also makes for interesting conversations with our customers to make sure that we are talking about the same flowering bulb. The names don't change the striking beauty of this fall-blooming flower. Here in East Texas, we call it the "red spider lily". It is red, and the stamens look like spider legs. Along the coast, it is often referred to as a "hurricane lily" because it often blooms after the first fall hurricane. Many people call this a "naked lady" because it blooms on a naked stalk. Others simply call it a "surprise" lily because it shows up out of nowhere and surprises you one day with a flower. No matter what it is called, its beauty will make you glad that you have it in your garden.

The Red Spider Lily's Unique Bloom Cycle: A Timeline

Understanding the Red Spider Lily's bloom cycle is key to successful cultivation. Most people still expect to see something growing during the summer months. You won't see anything. These lilies are dormant in the summer. The flowers suddenly appear with the first later summer or early fall rains. One day there is nothing growing and then suddenly you have a surprise, a fully blooming flower! That is why they are called "Surprise lilies". Yellow spider lilies act very similarly to yellow spider lilies, schoolhouse lilies, and naked ladies. Simply put, they bloom in the fall and then have foliage for the winter. I have spider lilies planted almost 2 years ago that have not yet produced blooms but have produced increasing foliage each year.

1. Planting (Anytime): Avoid hard freezes, but otherwise you can plant the bulbs anytime that you are thinking about them.
2. Dormancy (Summer): Bulbs rest underground, conserving energy.
3. Surprise Blooms (Late Summer/Early Fall): Flowers emerge seemingly overnight.
4. Foliage Growth (Fall/Winter): Leaves appear, gathering nutrients for the following year.

Nurturing the Foliage: The Key to Red Spider Lily Success

The foliage is vital for the bulb's health and reproduction. Don't be discouraged if you don't see blooms the first year – healthy foliage is a positive sign of bulb establishment. The foliage tells you the bulb is growing and multiplying. We know that we all want to see the beautiful unusual blooms in the fall, but the foliage is very important. The foliage is what allows the bulb to grow and multiply. Many people get very concerned if they don't see the spider lily bloom the first year that they plant it and believe that maybe the bulb isn't any good. The foliage is what you watch for if you don't see your spider lily bloom, or even if you do.

Below you will see a picture of the foliage of the red spider lily - it looks like grass. We took the picture on November 1st. The foliage has been popping out of the ground a little over the previous couple of weeks, but now you can really see the stand. All of those different tufts of foliage are bulbs, and someday you will see a beautiful stand of red spider lilies here. In this area because of the super dry summer, not one red spider lily bloomed. However, you can see that the bulbs are growing. The foliage is up and ready to take in nutrients over the next several months while helping the bulbs grow, mature, and multiply. I know you will have to take our word for it, but there wasn't even 1/2 that much foliage there last year which shows you how quickly the bulbs multiply. The foliage will continue to grow. Even if it gets hit by a winter cold snap, it will have taken in nutrients for months! Always allow the foliage to die down naturally and don't cut it off. If you cut it, you are killing the bulb. Once the foliage is completely dead which is usually around the beginning of May, this area can be mowed. Remember, it takes a lot of energy for the bulb to push that bloom up out of the ground and open wide. The more time the bulbs can take in nutrients, the more energy they will have for that fall bloom.

Sunlight Requirements: Ensuring a Spectacular Bloom

The single most important thing about landscaping with spider lilies is the sun. They need at least 6+ hours a day of WINTER sun. That means about 6-8 hours of sunlight during the winter months. If you look at the photo above, you will see that they are in the shade of the trees. You can be sure that most, if not all, of those trees, will lose their leaves in the winter when the greenery needs sunlight. The spider lily puts on its foliage during the winter (November - May) and that is when it takes in the nutrients it needs to produce those golden flowers the following September. The winter foliage soaks up sun energy during winter as it prepares for summer dormancy. The foliage normally completely dies down by around May.

Planting and Care Tips for Red Spider Lilies

Don't plant the bulb too deep. You will plant the bulbs 2-3 times deep the height of the bulb (so if your bulb is 2" tall, then you will plant it 4-5 inches deep). You can plant 2-3 per hole to make the blooms look more natural. Spider lilies really do well in any type of soil. They thrive in soil that has plenty of organic material mixed in, but they do not require fertilizer. Newly planted bulbs would actually be harmed by exposure to fertilizer, so if you are going to apply nutrients, limit the application to established plants when the plants are producing their green leafy foliage during the winter. After planting the bulbs, water the soil thoroughly. Damp soil is ok, as long as the bulbs are in a spot where they will receive plenty of winter sun and the foliage is allowed to die down naturally in the spring. Standing water is not good. Once the summer season starts the spider lily will do best in soil that dries out a bit, as this facilitates its entry into the dormant stage when its leaves die back. This period is followed by its blooming season when it will reward daily watering with long-lasting blooms. Too much moisture in the soil will lead to the bulbs rotting.

Planting Depth: Plant bulbs 2-3 times their height deep.

Soil Type: While adaptable, they thrive in soil rich in organic matter.

Watering: Water thoroughly after planting and during dry periods. The bulbs are dormant during the summer so you don't need to water them.

Fertilizer: Avoid fertilizing newly planted bulbs; established plants benefit from fertilizer during active foliage growth.

The performance of red spider lilies primarily hinges on two factors:

1. Winter Sunlight: To produce lush blooms, the bulbs need to absorb sufficient nutrients from the winter sun. Energy stored over months is used to create these breathtaking blossoms. For this, they require at least six hours of winter sun for several months to ensure they have the energy needed.

2. Fall Rains: The magic trigger for these blooms is the arrival of fall rains. Without adequate rainfall in September, the bulbs won't bloom, as the rains are the signal they've been waiting for.

Dividing and Multiplying Your Red Spider Lily Garden

Early spring is ideal for dividing, but it can be done whenever convenient. Remember, transplanting might cause the lilies to skip a blooming cycle.

Companion Plants for Red Spider Lilies: A Symphony of Color

Enhance your garden's beauty by pairing Red Spider Lilies with other perennials, annuals, or bulbs for continuous blooms:

Perennials: Salvias, Lantanas, Plumbago, Phlox
Annuals: Alyssum, Snapdragons, Pansies, Cyclamen
Bulbs: Narcissus, Iris, Snowflakes, Rain Lilies, Crinums, Hymenocallis

FAQ's

Do animals bother the red spider lilies?

Pollinators adore yellow spider lilies...hummingbirds, bees, and butterfilies.

While deer will eat anything (including plastic flowers if hungry enough), spider lilies are more resistant to their urges than many other ornamental garden products. They definitely leave the foliage alone during the winter, but can be attracted to the bright flowers. So the answer to this question, is that they are mostly resistant, depending on how hungry the deer are. Remember, humans ate tulips during times of hunger/famine, yet tulips definitely aren’t on our menu either.

We understand that online sources sometimes raise concerns about toxicity, so we want to offer some clarification. Much of the alarm you may see online stems from generalized or exaggerated toxicity listings. In reality, cases of actual poisoning are extremely rare, and the plants are not considered a serious risk. While red spider lily bulbs, like many ornamental bulbs, do contain alkaloids that could cause mild irritation if ingested in large quantities, they are not considered dangerous to humans or animals under normal garden conditions. The key is that even for mild irritation they would need to be fully consumed in large quantities. Even if animals chew on the bulbs a little bit, they aren't interested in them (even deer who have been known to eat plastic flowers leave them alone). In fact, they’ve been grown safely in Southern gardens for generations—including in areas with pets and children. You can feel confident they won’t pose a hazard just by being in your garden.

When should I plant red spider lilies? How far in advance should lily bulbs be planted before the first frost in the fall?

For fall planting, aim to have fall lily bulbs in the ground at least four weeks before the first frost. This gives them time to get settled and adjusted before the freeze. You can plant red spider lilies anytime, but avoid a hard freeze.

How do you ship red spider lilies?


During the spring, we ship these vibrant bulbs "in the green," which means they are plump, healthy, and eager to be planted. Expect the foliage to yellow and die back naturally—this is a normal process where the leaves nourish the bulbs for future blooms. Once the foliage is dead, you can cut it off. The rest of the year we ship dormant bulbs. Plant them, water them, and then just wait. Remember - you won't see anything during the summer as the bulbs are dormant. You may not see blooms the first fall depending on when you planted the bulbs. Many perennial bulbs need 6-12 months in the ground before they bloom.

Your Red Spider Lily Journey Starts Today!

Order your Red Spider Lily bulbs now and witness the magic of these captivating flowers in your own garden. With their unique charm and resilience, they are guaranteed to become a treasured part of your landscape.

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4.6 ★★★★★
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david h.
Lake Worth, US
★★★★★ 5
recommend this seller
Format: Paperback
great product, great seller
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2026
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fitzalling
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 5
Globalization greatly increases leverage over opponents
I'm trying to learn more about China. This book was referenced in a book I read by U.S. General Spalding entitled "War Without Rules." The book was written by two Chinese PLA colonels and published in 1999 so it's about a quarter century old. According to General Spalding the book has been read and considered within the U.S. military. I have the paperback and it's 193 pages, not including a short afterword and some information on the authors' backgrounds. It reads fairly well although I did encounter a few places where I wasn't entirely sure what the book was trying to say. I don't know if this was due to translation challenges or it was just me. I got through the book fairly quickly. My main takeaway was that globalization has offers a potential opponent many more levers to influence the actions of others than simply resorting to kinetic (bombs and bullets) warfare. Economic warfare is certainly possible and in the colonels' view has been resorted to by the West against Asian targets. They view George Soros as a financial terrorist who wreaked havoc on Asian economies in 1998. They describe Soros as a soldier in the wars of tomorrow. Page 191. The inspiration for the book was the First Gulf War. The lesson that the colonels drew from this war was that it was inadvisable to fight the U.S. in a straight-up kinetic war. Finding other ways to fight the U.S. was mandatory. As I write this in January 2024 I wonder if the Chinese military will follow the colonels or if they will resort to traditional kinetic means of fighting if their leadership decides to take Taiwan. On page 120 they describe the new model of warfare as combining the battlefield and non-battlefield exemplified by Schwarzkopf and Soros and Bin Laden and some Chinese that I don't recognize. As they say on page 120 "This then is our real hand of cards." The book also cites a number of Chinese theorists on war, which I think I useful. I've read fairly widely, but my reading has been focused in the West. Also, the authors look at international bodies and how China might use them against the U.S. On page 164 the book argues that warfare is changing from "bloody massacre" and finding expression in "information warfare, financial warfare, and trade warfare". Look at the U.S. response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The colonels' thoughts are worthy of consideration. On page 110 the book observes "continuous coverage by the modern media which very much strengthens the effects of terrorism." If the topic interests you, I recommend the book. The book may be 25 years old, but its message is timely.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2024
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Albert
New York, US
★★★★★ 4
Intriguing Challenges and Overblown Rhetoric
This is a useful book to read. The principles of warfare advocated by Sun Tzu say that you must know both yourself and your enemy. This book shows that modern American society is known by the Chinese military. As an exercise in cultural self-understanding alone, reading it pays dividends. However, the topic is strategy. The words used can be relatively confusing at times, not quite embodying the meaning given to them by the authors. Unlimited...but within limits. Unrestricted...but following rules. It can be a bit of a struggle to follow their train of thought and understand their meaning (especially with the writing style, which lacks clarity or organization). Despite this I think it is worth struggling with, and especially with a broad overview of some of the argument to assist. Such a board overview follows. The main point: the United States is prone to think in a manner which intrinsically restricts the conduct of warfare to only a formal military domain; thus it abstracts military action from its location in social domains (politics, economy, information, etc). This fits rather well. We like things to be formulas or mechanistic. We also like to abstract them away into separate ("rigidly distinct") boxes which have no interaction. And so, the military is responsible for military problems and better stay far from anything approaching politics! However, as the authors reveal, this leads to an inability to conduct grander strategy in warfare. So instead: "unrestricted" warfare is to have strategy incorporate considerations (and interactions) within various domains, not only the military domain. Basically it is a rejection of the post-Westphalian concept of the nation-state as the supreme (and exclusive) kind of agent in strategy. This is good. The post-Westphalian idea of the nation-state may be useful in certain contexts and for certain purposes, but it is NOT the comprehensive reality of the universe. To treat it as such is to be blind to much of reality, and to live in a fantasy world. Does North Korea really care that it is "unrecognized" as a nation by us? Nope. Because the nation-state idea simply doesn't describe the order in which NK exists, so much as it describes the order in which Germany exists. This is all well and good. But is it truly revolutionary or new? I don't think so. Clausewitz himself writes that there is no military situation abstracted from the political situation, and politics (in this sense) involves much more than just inter-governmental relations. Rather, I think that we can treat this as a corrective against modern American oversimplifications and reductions, and thus as a "return" to older concepts of strategy and statesmanship. Indeed, they even imitate and follow Clausewitz's guidance on method for determining a theory of warfare which is inductive/a posteriori, rather than deductive/a priori. Unfortunately, the one "modern" example of a war they have to analyze is the Gulf War, and so they relentlessly analyze it alone, perhaps leading to imbalance. And here is where the rhetoric is overblown. This is no "master plan" to destroy America (false advertising). It's not even really new concepts. Rather, it is a (very) forceful reminder against the false (and harmful) modernist sentiments that prevail in America's mode of conducting warfare. In reference to false understandings, the authors actually accuse Americans of "touching the elephant" - an allusion to the tale of "blind men and the elephant" (although this allusion is not made clear in the text, and so is confusing if you have not heard of the tale). It is a parable about believing one has the absolute truth, while only having a limited perspective. Perhaps the authors also touch the elephant in a few ways (bias for helicopters without empirical evidence, a near-religious adoration of the golden ratio, etc.). There's a final point of balance that is perhaps needed. It is easy to either dismiss the Chinese critiques of American society ("we don't worship tech") or take them too seriously ("tech is evil"). Either reaction is problematic. Instead we need to understand that just as in some other areas, there is a rhetorical/political purpose at play. America is being made fun of (which means that the critiques are both based in reality, but also somewhat biased for the sake of local humor). Technology is not evil, and technology is not God. So we need to learn to avoid seeing technological advancement as a replacement for people (this is the error the authors would like to point out). This doesn't mean avoiding technological advancement. There are many lessons to be learned from this book. I'd advise it for all military officers to read. However, I also would advise to temper the expectations and reframe the reader's conception of what the book is: it is an exercise in recovery of some older strategic concepts, not a revolutionary approach to destroying the United States. Get past and ignore the rhetoric and advertising, and take the lessons where they make valid points about where we can be short-sighted in our mindset. But don't discount those lessons because of the wild rhetoric and advertising which surround them. Doing this, you will profit.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2022
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Verified Purchase
CliffB
Lowell, US
★★★★★ 5
China’s Global Strategic Approach.
Provides an excellent understanding of China’s strategy approach — which should be occurs by now, but isn’t. Its style is probably to Asian to be appreciated by most Americans — who have never studied the classic Asian way of war — and never been to war in Asia. If interested in this subject, start with Sun Tzu, and try to think like about strategy the way the Chinese understand it.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2026
T
Verified Purchase
Tim
Bozeman, US
★★★★★ 5
Why China is winning
Format: Hardcover
Should be mandatory reading for all men from 17 and up see why they’re going to overtake the USA unless we get our act in gear
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2026

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