I can’t believe I can sell my plants for $10 per bulb

Have you noticed that plants are all over the internet nowadays? Have you ever wonder why just now? How do they get into this passion? Want to know what rare plants I have? I would love to share it with everyone.

Initially, the love for plants is unquestionable. Local in Laguna have been in this industry for so long I can remember. Particularly in Bucal to Los Banos. Resorts and landscaping is their primary source of income. So in the countryside, it’s perfectly normal until pandemic strikes and everyone is in-home quarantine.

In my opinion, plant therapy helps people cope up with their boredom, sadness, depression, and other psychological issues. Have you encountered someone talking to their plants? Or singing with them? Yeah, it’s true some people doing it coz it helps the plant to grow better and plants help humans by giving them hope.

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels

Scientifically speaking plants especially indoors provide oxygen and clean the air whilst human releases carbon dioxide. So it’s a win-win situation. What else?

Financially speaking, as I have mentioned earlier it’s also a source of income. Here comes the fact, selling ornamental plants become a thing during the pandemic. It’s costly to some and others barter it.

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels

Just to clarify I’m against poaching so exclude those rare plants from our mountains and forest.

Legally propagating plants is a craze. Just look at your Facebook and Instagram, an influencer is taking this to the highest level. Such as? You know everyone. Search the hashtag #plantitos #plantitas #indoorplants.

So, being said I have the rare plants that I just recently discovered. It was given to me by my mom. I just take care of it coz I have a passion for gardening and landscaping.

Come to think of it they just grow and grow and start to bloom. Even my neighbors turn their heads whenever they see its flower. It was so unique and captivating, whenever I’m with these flowers I feel like I’m in different places somewhere ethereal.

Intrigue about its name? So rare it took a long time to finally know it’s exact species and varieties. When I check the price on eBay it’s $15 per bulb. Awe! I have like more than 20 bulbs I guess I can sell it too. Let me know if you want it, alrighty!

Finally, I found this article on the internet from Botanyboy.org. He said it’s Japan’s orange surprise lily. I agree with this one. If you want to know more? Continue reading this article.

Japan’s orange surprise lily, Lycoris sanguinea

The warmer areas of Japan are home to the orange surprise lily, Lycoris sanguinea. It can be seen growing near streams in deciduous woodlands as well as open moist grasslands. While not as showy as its brethren L. radiata, it flowers a full month ahead, right in the midst of the deadly heat of August.

Just as the rains of the summer monsoon abate and the oven turns on in southern Japan’s forests, this odd flower shows its face. Starting in late July the single flower scape grows with its sheathed clump of buds to a height of 40 cm or more. By mid-August, a loose truss of 3-6 light orange, spidery flowers, with their pistil and stamens protruding well beyond the petals, hang in the summer heat. They last up to a week or so before giving in to the sweltering temperatures.

Seed set is fast and by mid-fall, you hardly know there was a plant growing in that spot. The bulbs are completely subterranean and remain dormant until February when the new leaves begin their growth. These expand quickly in broad arching clumps of blue-green strap-like leaves, 30-60 cm in length. They remain green throughout the spring and early summer monsoon, going down sometime in mid-July, a few weeks before the flower stalks initiate.

Lycoris sanguinea is represented by two varieties in Japan, v. sanguinea and v. kiusiana. The latter is a larger plant overall but otherwise is very similar to the standard type. A third variety, v. koreana, is rare and synonymous with L. koreana, a species found in South Korea and the islands between Japan and Korea. I have not been able to determine which name is considered valid for this type since both are used by various authors.

Like other members of the genus Lycoris, this species exhibits natural polyploidy, that is, any given plant can have extra sets of chromosomes. Both Japanese varieties are represented by fertile diploids (2n=22), sterile triploids (2n=33), and even some fertile tetraploids (2n=44). This pattern holds for v. koreana as well. Regardless, in general, L. sanguinea is a fertile species with regular meiotic division, unlike many Lycoris species and hybrids.

The upshot of all this is that L. sanguinea is self-reproducing by seed and its distribution throughout southern Japan from the Kanto Region of Honshu southward to Shikoku and Kyushu speaks to this. It also means this species is a useful parent in producing new Lycoris hybrids – a somewhat rare trait in this bizarre genus.

The orange surprise lily lives up to its name, flowering in the worst heat of August when you would least expect to see such delicate flowers blooming. Beyond that, it can be appreciated not only for its lovely flowers but also for its foliage in the spring months. In warmer climates it will grow these very early, usually starting in February, but expect it to start later in more northern gardens, just before the spring crocus flower. Given their love of water, I recommend growing them moist year-round.

The flowers are not quite as showy as most other Lycoris, but they are plentiful. The name sanguinea, meaning “blood”, isn’t quite right, at least not for the normal varieties native to Japan. They are more of a pale orange color. It is said that true alba flowers exist with green veining. The variety koreana has brick red flowers.

I’ve heard this species is grown throughout USDA cold hardiness zone 6, and perhaps colder with some protection. They probably can be grown from zones 6a-9a without much trouble. Some cooling in winter will be necessary, while in summer they appreciate lots of warmth.

Not the beauty of the genus, but still a lovely species and easy to grow and flower. The orange surprise lily is yet another flowering bulb worth adding to your woodland garden or lily bed.