The Rain Lily

The Rain Lily

Zephyranthes and Habranthus Bulbs for the Perennial Garden

By Published August 15, 2015 Updated June 15, 2022

Here at Plant Delights Nursery, we love the little bulb known as the rain lily (Zephyranthes and Habranthus). Zephyranthes are unobtrusive, summer-flowering bulbs with flower colors from yellow to white to pink and every shade in between. Zephyranthes gets its common name Rain lily from its charming habit of blooming the day after a rain shower. Scatter some rain lilies around your garden and you will be rewarded all summer long with crocus-sized blooms after it rains.

Rain Lilies grow in conditions from bogs to deserts. Most rain lily species have incredible tolerance for heat which makes them perfect for an exposed rock garden or a container.

The zephyranthes (rain lily) collection at Plant Delights Nursery is one of the best in the world, and we have many hard-to-find Mexican species, many older US hybrids, and the groundbreaking new rain lily hybrids from Fadjar Marta of Indonesia. Our owner, Tony Avent has been fascinated with Rain Lilies since he was a child. Once you grow Zephyranthes we think that you too will develop a life-long love for them.

Zephyranthes Trivia : The name Zephyranthes comes from the Greek words for the god of the west wind 'Zephyrus' and flower 'anthos'. In a general sense, zephyr refers to anything light and Zephyranthes flower stalks are thin. That's not much of a connection, but that is really where the term came from.

Welcome to Plant Delights Nursery at Juniper Level Botanic Gardens. We are a private research and display botanic garden located near Raleigh, North Carolina (USDA Hardiness Zone 7b). Our retail mail order division allows us to make the best perennials from our trials available to gardeners around the world, some of which were developed here, some from our plant explorations, and others from breeders around the world. Between 1988 and 2010, Plant Delights Nursery introduced over 500 new perennial plants to US horticulture. In 2002, we were honored to be recognized by the American Horticulture Society for our lifetime of work in commercial horticulture. This image gallery is but a sampling of the great perennial plants available for gardeners around the world. We do not carry all plants pictured at any one time, but since our mission is to educate and inspire, we hope these images and the linked articles below will expand your garden horizons and interest. You will find an array of other interesting information and fascinating perennials throughout our website...thank you for taking time to visit.

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