hah! the same thing happened to me! i was watering an area that i haven't bothered with for a time, saw this pink flower unlike anything i remembered having, and lo! this was it. i have absolutely no idea how it arrived as i KNOW i never ordered, bought nor planted it. any guesses how it got here???

Oh, I keep meaning to order some of these - just love them! What a pretty pink you have, Schoolhouse, and that's a perfect place for it, mixed in among the ground-covering perennials.

It's Lycoris squamigera, in the amaryllis family, and was introduced from Japan (where I understand it is sometimes called the "dead people's flower" because it blooms around the date they honor their departed loved ones). The leaves, as you may have noticed, come up in late winter/early spring, looking a lot like daffodil leaves, then disappear. Later, the leafless flower stalks emerge, hence its common names: magic lily, naked lady, resurrection lily, surprise lily.

I have read somewhere that it is believed to be a hybrid, and is sterile. If that is the case, seeds dropped by birds or other animals would not explain its sudden appearance in Roxanna's garden. Might there have been a few small bulbs in with something you purchased, traded or received as a gift?

Glad you posted this. I realized I hadn't seen mine blooming and went and checked and they weren't there. I happened to look out front in a different location and there they were. Oh yeah, I moved them last fall. I really need to keep a plan of where I put things.

One spring I found this huge weed and I dug it out. I kept thinking, how did I let a weed get this big with such a tough stem. Months later I remember it was the hydrangea I had brought from my mom's house the previous fall when she came to live with us.

Hope that story produced a little chuckle for your day...I think I'll go work on that plan.

I have them too.

Yours is so enchantingly pretty along your mossy stonework path.

Beautiful!

~Annie

gardenstateofmind -- this came up in an area that hasn't changed its plantings for more than 6 years, so i can't imagine how it got there. it's under a huge bleeding heart that was here when we bought the house 12 years ago. very weird! but pretty.