Nile Lilly

 This weird looking flower is a Nile Lilly. I have had this plant for 45 years. Or at least I have off-spring from the first Nile Lilly bulb I got 45 years ago. Actually I saw a plant like this blooming near a library and noticed that one had developed this strange bulb or maybe it was sort of a seed pod that had come on after the bloom and dropped down onto the ground. I walked by and picked it up. I put it in a pot and it grew. I realized I had a monster on my hands. For the first few years all it did was put on these long, strap-like leaves but still it didn't look bad. And each year when I replanted it I found it had put on a lot more bulbs. Soon it was a mass of bulbs with lots of leaves coming out of it. Not sure what I had and wanting to be careful I did keep it in the house during the winter. In summer it sat outside. About the 4 year = Surprise =  it sent out several flower stalks with these fragile looking flowers. They are fairly fragile. They do not like hot sun, wind or hard rain. I did figure out what it was while looking through a gardening book. Over the years I have had lots of these and some years they bloom and some years they don't. I found that they do prefer to be crowded in a pot or in the ground and bloom best with light fertilize. And they will not come back after freezing in the winter. I always make sure to bring a few in to winter over.
    When we decided to move to Kentucky I brought a few of my favorite flowers with me. Mostly just cuttings off of big plants which I gave to a friend. I brought some of the Nile Lilly bulbs, too. Last year they weren't crowded in the pot enough to bloom. This year I have one nice flower stalk. Maybe there will be more next year. Interested in a Nile Lilly. There are a lot for sale in nurseries and on the internet. There is a blue one as well as the white but I haven't had as much luck with it.

This is a variegated hibiscus. I have had cuttings from the original plant for about 40 years. So far we have had one blossom this summer.