Naked Ladies (Amaryllis Belladonna) Survival - Hope for We Mere Humans

Good morning, Tina here. I am back at home after a weekend trip with my Gold Country Sisters to Fort Bragg on the Northern California Coast.

One of our day trips was to the quaint village of Mendocino. We parked our car at the first opportunity, which was on Main Street just south of the wonderful old Kelley home. The pond there was accidentally drained by work on pipes on Main Street, and the City has a plan to repair the leak and fill it again, since it is a historical feature of the town. We paused to look at the empty pond, still attractive although not filled.

There in the not-even-damp silt grew flowers. Among those was a Gold Country Girl favorite, a single Naked Lady bloom. How did that bulb get there in the middle of a pond, and how long has it been since it had a chance to bloom? I hope they get the pond filled soon, but I can't help but be happy that we got to see this rare sight.

Home now, back to the Mother Lode which has been devastated by the Butte Fire which basically is situated between my home in El Dorado County and Heidi's in Tuolumne County. Below is a photo that was shared on Facebook by the photographer's wife. Thank you to Kevin and Wendy Crawford for this sight of a hopeful beautiful lily, bringing some beauty to the destruction, adding some hope to the unbelievable loss.

The Naked Lady grows its leaves during the midwinter and early spring when all is green, dies back, and leaves no sign, and in August through October can pop up where nothing else is growing, (thus their other name, Surprise Lily) completely "naked" and all alone.

I hope in time the restored beauty will replace the ashes and the persons who lost their homes can return as triumphantly as this lily.