PlantFiles: Oxblood Lily, Schoolhouse Lily
Rhodophiala bifida

In my opinion there is no flower more elegant or beautiful than the ones produced by this plant. They are also very easy to grow in the dry alkaline soils around Austin, Texas. I have seen them bloom profusely in deep shade and also in areas with partial sun. Once planted, they require no care except division of the bulbs every year or so if you'd like to spread them around. The plants themselves are quite inconspicuous and I often forget they are there-until the first heavy rain in late August or September when the flowers pour forth almost magically for an all too brief couple of weeks. An added bonus-unlike true Lily plants which are very toxic to cats, these appear to be safe for our feline friends. Look great individually, massed, or along the edges of driveways. I highly recommend them.

Add Shreveport,La. to the list of places oxblood lilies grow. I dug some from a friend's yard today and planted them in one of my part-sun/part-shade flower beds. I may go back for more now that I know what they are!

You cannot kill this plant. I say that because when we moved, I dug up the ones my mother had given me and put them in a box which I did not unearth again until August ( We moved in March). I thought they were dead but decided to dig a bed and plant them. With the first rain of September, they came to life and bloomed. Every year when I see them, I am amazed again. I also agree that the seeds are viable because we have no squirrels and the lilies pop up everywhere.

Two years ago before Hurricane Ike, my R. bifidas were looking a bit sad. After Ike they bloomed like crazy. Hurricane lilies indeed!
Beverly A. Near Dayton TX

I dug bunches of these up from a house over 100yr. old in Smithville, TX and took them to the coast (Rockport/Fulton) to plant. Down here they call them "hurricane lillies" since they come up after heavy rain (hopefully not a hurricane) in the fall. They are always a delightful surprise when they "just appear".

A friend gave me a few of these a number of years ago and now I am giving them away. They are like rabbits here in El Paso. Noone should have to buy this.

Oxblood lilies do not set seed? Au contraire. I have a patch of red lilies in my back garden. Without transplanting, a set of lilies sprang up in one of my front beds two years ago, some seventy feet away. This year, another set of lilies sprang up in a second front bed about thirty feet from the nearest lily patch. I have checked the flower stems and indeed there are pods containing what looks a whole lot like mature seeds. We have a healthy population of squirrels that live in and around our home, but I found no indications that the little pests had tried to harvest any of the lily bulbs. I'm open to other explanations for these immaculate transplants.

Not as big a bloom as I thought would be, but beautiful nonetheless. Shows best when planted densely. My source is Bayou City Heirloom Bulbs:

http://www.bayoucityheirloombulbs.com/

Very dependable and delightful. Blooms for the first week of school at Texas A&M every year. The flowers do last only a few days each, though if you have enough of them, the staggered blooms can create a week or more of color. Interesting history--native to S. America, brought to TX by German settlers, and passed around for generations. Older neighborhoods may have them under all the trees and along all the walks. Wish there were more available in the trade!

About 3 weeks ago, I discovered this plant had bloomed. I couldn't identify it without the blooms until at that point. I live in my house for about 6 months now. I was pleasantly surprised I have oxblood lilies in my front yard! So beautiful. The only downside about this plant is that after we had a very heavy (I mean really heavy) rain, it caused the poor bloomed flowers to die in a few days! It seemed to have a negative reaction to overwatering, I guess. However, I know that it still lives because its long leaves are in a very good shape. It's a great addition to my front yard!

These bulbs surprised us the first fall after we moved into our house in Galveston. It took a while to identify them. We left most of them where they were since they seemed to be happy there, moving them to other locations only when they became crowded. They all made the change, both those against the house in hot morning sun and those under the oak in light shade. Since then they have all survived two deep freezes, one salt saturation during Hurricane Ike flooding, a tenting of the house for termites that enclosed many of them inside the kill zone, and almost 20 sticky humid summers. I love this plant.

I got some in trade last year and potted them while I decided where to permanently place. A whole year has passed by, they have bloomed and now I can't wait for the leaves to die so I transplant to the perfect spot inground. They are beautiful.

You're most likely to find this plant as a passalong; if it's found in commerce, it will be through a boutique nursery and not cheap. At any price, don't miss an opportunity to acquire it if you live where it will grow. The flowers appear first, and then the straplike leaves sometime later. Two days ago we had rain; yesterday there was no sign of the schoolhouse lilies; today they're shooting up everywhere and some are already in bloom. Each year there are more of them and they're a welcome sign that summer will end.

A German-Texas heirloom frequently found in Central Texas around abandoned homesteads. Naturalizes well. Blooms in fall after a rain. Blooms followed by narrow, dark green foliage that stays through fall, winter and spring. Goes dormant in late spring through summer like a Lycoris. Does well in full sun or shade beneath deciduous trees.

My stand is an old stand my Grandma planted over 40 years ago (most probably 60 years ago).