My friend Barb and I took a bus trip to Nashville, and after talking about our children and grandchildren our conversations turned to our love of gardening.

She told me about a bulb given to her called a rain lily, of which I’d never heard. She told me the flowers tend to open after a rainfall, hence the name.

They can survive periods of drought, but you won’t see their flowers until summer rainfall wakes up their blooms. This sounded very interesting, so I figured I’d research it and add it to my garden.

The botanical name is Zephyranthes grandiflora and it belongs to the amaryllis family. It’s a perennial bulb in zones 7-10 and would spread abundantly in your flower garden.

We in the Mahoning Valley are in zone 5 so it would have to be lifted from your garden and stored for winter or grown in containers that are moved into a garage to survive our climate.

You could try to overwinter them indoors, but they need full sun for best blooming. It would be best to place your container on a sun porch or similar space that sees the sun for most of the day.

It’s often mistaken for a crocus as it’s similar in shape and size. It’s also known as a fairy lily and zephyr-flower. Its mature size is 6 to 12 inches tall and wide that blooms summer and fall. It needs at least 6 hours of full sun and will grow in most soils.

The blooms last a few days and emit a light sweet fragrance. Deadheading will encourage the bulb to reflower. White and pink are the most common colors, but some research will allow you to discover many cultivars to bring a new range of colors to your garden.

Abacos Apricot, also known as August grass, has coral blooms with yellow centers. For those of you who have a moon or white garden, adding Big Dude with its broad white petals with a hint of lavender frost makes them glow in this garden.

It’s easy to add this interesting plant to your garden by placing your bulbs into a container and setting it in a sunny spot. Place your bulbs into the container and cover them with an inch of soil. When bulbs are planted in a container you should place them close together as they prefer to be crowded.

At the end of the season trim back the plant, but not until the stems become brown and hollow. As bulbs develop more offsets multiply over the years and it’s best to wait until your plant is dormant in winter to propagate and place new offset bulbs into new containers for their winter sleep. Gently separate the offsets from the main bulb, being careful not to damage the roots, placing them into a larger container. Choosing a new container that is 2 inches wider than the previous one will ensure your bulbs get off to a great start in the new year.

Guess this means I’ll have to go shopping for just the right container to plant the new rain lily addition to my garden. I think it’s a well-known fact that new plants need just the right new containers.

For more photos and information, go to: https://go.osu.edu/rainlily.

Baytos is an Ohio State University Extension Master Gardener Volunteer in Mahoning County.