Welcome to fall

The red Schoolhouse lilies are up and blooming. They get their names from their usual bloom time of early September when school is well underway. They send up the red flowers with no leaves. The leaves appear later and then die down in the hot summer. They like a partially shady spot and garden soil with excellent drainage. The deer eat them so locate them in a deer protected spot. The bulbs multiply and over time you will develop a nice bunch of Schoolhouse lilies where you planted one bulb in the fall. The bulbs need no water in the summer, but obviously they respond to water in the early fall. Schoolhouse lilies are said to be from Argentina and the German settlers brought them to our area.

Red Spider Lily, also called Lycoris, also sends up red delicate flowers with no leaves in the late summer, early fall. They are similar to the Schoolhouse lilies in that they like a partially shady spot, need a deer protected location, get leaves during the winter that die down in the hot summer, are planted in the fall, multiply over time, need no water in the summer and appear in late summer after a heavy rain. Plant hybridizers have developed other colors of Lycoris such as yellow, but I like the red best. On October 20 KWB will cosponsor with Constable Precinct 3, City of Wimberley and the DEA [drug enforcement agency] a drug take back day. Bring your prescription drugs you no longer take to the drive through at the Wimberley Community Center parking lot from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The next big Keep Wimberley Beautiful event is the Martha Knies Community Park ribbon cutting celebration on October 24 from 2-4 p.m. This park is located at the trailhead of the Cypress Creek Trail on Old Kyle Road near the Wimberley town square.

Written by Jackie Mattice, Hays County Master Naturalist