no picture

Odd. I see the thumbnail in the list of posts but not when I click on this post. Perhaps add it again in a comment.

tj

Rain Lily, Zephyranthes?

A photo shows up in the discussions page associated with this topic but is missing from the actual post....who knows why??

But the photo that does show up looks suspiciously like Star of Bethlehem, Ornithogalum umbellatum. This is usually a late spring bloomer but flowering out of season is not unheard of, as it is a very weedy species.

Trying again re the picture...

That worked for the picture for me - I hope the rest of you can see it too! gg48 - I wondered whether it might be an out-of-season spring bulb and I thought it looked like Star of Bethlehem too - but I never planted those either! But there is some Glory of the Snow in that area, although whatever this is is growing taller than the spring bulbs in that area. Maybe out-of-season also means somewhat different growth too...?

Jay - I had never heard of Zephyranthes and had to look it up! Whatever these things in the garden are, they do look like a lot of things...! That one sounds like it wouldn't be hardy here...? Where would seeds have come from? Do they flower in the same year they germinate?

Agree with gg, it does look like Ornithogalum umbellatum.

Woody, if you've never heard of them, then it's probably not Zephyranthes. They are a southern species, and they always bloom after it rains. I doubt they flower in their 1st year. The photo is blurry, so I can't see the center, but that's where the difference is. Ornithogalum flowers have green throats and little petal-like folds surrounding the center. Your location isn't showing, so I don't know your location.

Both species have flowers with green throats, but only Ornithogalum has inner petals.

Picture is too small for me to tell, but if it is Star of Bethlehem, get it out of there and get all the roots. It is a terrible thug once it gets going.

I will try to orrow or the next day to get a picture with a better camera than a phone one!

I would say crocus. Did you see it in person? Maybe in person it has a color closer to what you're used to?

Crocus ochroleucus (I had to look that up so don't be impressed by the spelling) is a fairly common white which blooms late, is kind of weedy, and doesn't bloom much. It's possible it's been there for years and this is your first bloom.

Also possible is a seedling in a paler color.

Could you provide a better focus picture showing the flower from an angle rather than top down? And could you give a sense of scale? The suggestions given are all different sizes.

I'm not convinced by Star of Bethlehem but I can't get an idea of the size of the bloom. They usually produce flowers in clusters, not singly. (Hence the epithet 'umbellatum' ). And they have a central ring of petal-like structures.

Looks 100% like Star of Bethlehem to me...more like Star of Beelzebub! GET RID OF IT. A vicious weed not nearly worth the bland flowers.

Hopefully we’ll get better pictures tomorrow. If it does turn out to be Star of Bethlehem, I was wondering - and can’t seem to find specific details online - does it go dormant after flowering? If so, do the bulbs form a dense enough clump to choke out vigorous perennials or shrubs it shares the space with? Currently, the Autumn Crocuses in the area share the space with late-starting hardy hibiscuses. The crocuses flower in the Fall and produce foliage early in the spring before the hibiscuses start growing. The hibiscuses in growth hide the dying foliage of the crocuses and the crocuses flower in the Fall after the hibiscuses are finished and cut back. Would Star of Bethlehem work in those conditions?

Star of Bethlehem will take over the world if given half chance. You really don't want it, woodyoak. It's incredibly invasive.

woody it is most likely that a bulblet or two hitched a ride with something you planted unless you added soil that contained the bulblets. It would be a shame if your carefully planned seasonal show was upset by this marauder.

We took some more pictures this morning. I am now thinking that maybe this really is a normal spring crocus blooming in the fall....? There were fewer of them this morning and one of them was laying on the ground like it had been cut off at the base! There was no green, yellow, or other color on them either on the inside of the flower or on the outside. There was also a purple one that looked like a spring bulb. There was also a yellow flower that looked like an annual - snapdragon (?) I have never planted annuals here so am not sure where that came from... The pictures from this morning:

AARGH! This cut me off in the middle of posting pictures - will try editing...

I'm pretty sure this is a spring crocus blooming out of season:

Is this a snapdragon?

The driveway 'mums are starting to change from white to their purple/pink phase as the near finishing blooming.

More color (sumac + burning bush) in the neighbourhood.

yeah, strange, doesn't look right for Ornithagalum now

but, a relief for you

what is odd about this exercise is it wasn't so much the flowers tipping me off, it's the pile of dense, grassy, yet oddly 'slightly boiled' looking foliage to the left of the flower, that looks just like the foliage of O. umbellatum. https://blogs.k-state.edu/turf/star-of-bethlehem-ornithogalum-umbellatum/

The pictures are of fall blooming crocus, probably Crocus speciosus and the white one is speciosus alba. They normally bloom October through November.

As I suspected, not Ornithogalum umbellatum.

The 'snapdragon' is Yellow Toadflax, Linaria vulgaris. A native species for me. A listed invasive for parts of the US. https://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=3800#:~:text=Each%20capsule%20contains%20small%2C%20flat,ornamental%2C%20in%20the%20mid%201600s.

I have white, yellow, and lavender fall blooming crocus, all of which I planted. My white ones look just like yours. Your first pic of the pair of lavender crocus does look rather like species crocus blooming out of season.

BTW I have never ever planted Star of Bethlehem, but it has popped up in various spots over the years. Some critter spreading it, perhaps.

Star of Bethlehem isn't invasive at all where I live in the upper south. It will occasionally show up in the lawns of older homes.

Woody, I am only seeing this now, but is that white crocus growing near something I gave you? I used to have white fall crocus. Mine were in a spot they didn’t like, and they are all gone now, but a little bulb might have hitchhiked on a clump of something else, and only now gotten big enough to flower. I found them far more picky than my purple fall crocuses, of which I have two kinds, I think. I will see if I can find back the picture from the package of the white ones.

And your purple crocus looks like my purple fall crocus?!