Keep an eye open to flushes of pink rising in synchronicity in yards throughout Iowa, as surprise lilies make their annual appearance.
Like clockwork, the lilies, also known as magic lilies or naked ladies, bloom in Iowa in late summer; starting this year on July 27. If you see them popping up in one part of town, you’ll generally see them in another.
In years of drought, the elegant pink flowers might delay their appearance until they receive sufficient rain, but much of the state has received regular showers throughout the summer of 2025, leading to the typical show in late July.
The easy-to-grow perennial sports daffodil-like foliage early in the season, which disappears with the summer’s heat. By late July or early August, pink flowers tinged in blue simultaneously pop up on bare stalks, seemingly out of nowhere.
Another name for the flower formally known as Lycoris squamigera — in the amaryllis family — is resurrection lily.
The plants grow best in grow in partial shade or full sun.
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