red spider lilies

These little red lilies that bloom this time of year (I think they are spider lilies ?) Are they a wild plant or just gone wild after being domesticated.
charlotte

there ae red ones yellow ones pink ones and i think a white one. I have red and pink tried yellow but isnt hardy here

they just "show" up? weird i never planted but have a few..

Are you talking about lycoris?
http://davesgarden.com/pdb/go/2109/index.html

I expect mine to pop up the first or second week of September. They aren't wild, and don't produce seed so they don't scatter. I think the bulbs can lay dormant for a long time before suddenly reappearing one year.

The red ones make lots of babies and are a pass-along plant. The yellow and white are more rare.

Cheri'

Yes, thats what they are.
charlotte

They are quite cool. I love lycoris.

I have a bunch of red ones that just 'appeared' along the fence line, about a year after the fence was installed many years ago. It seemed so bizarre, but thinking back, they were prolly there all along - the foliage would have gotten cut by the lawn mower, and no one would have noticed. There's no way they would flower after that . . . Once the fence went up, no more lawn mower . . . instant lycoris. very cool.

My DD and I dug them all up many years ago and planted them in other spots, but the next year they came back! We must have missed some!

Last year I dug them all up, again (I think) and moved them to other spots, intermixed with some new ones I acquired. I can't wait to see what blooms this year!

Also, they can be sulky, going years without blooming after being disturbed. They can live for decades, apparently with no care at all. Ya gotta love 'em . . . tough, beautiful and with attitude.

Cheri'