GARDENING : TIME FOR NAKED LADIES TO BLOOM.

Byline: Joshua Siskin

It is the season of the naked lady, the pink princess of late-summer flowering bulbs.

The naked lady is probably more suitable for Valley gardens than any other bulb. It requires no water, no fertilization, grows in virtually any kind of soil and is pest free. It craves full sun but will also bloom in light shade.

At this time of year, when most blooming bedding plants are past their prime, the naked lady produces large trumpet flowers that blare with pink freshness.

The naked lady has a characteristic that is unique among the bulbs I have encountered: the ability to grow through thick ground covers. I have seen naked ladies emerge through a formidable mat of gazanias, through a fleshy layer of red apple ice plant and through a considerable thickness of English ivy as well.

The naked lady gets its name from its peculiar habit of growth. In the spring, masses of thin, straplike leaves burst out of the bulbs in dense clumps. Over the next several months, these leaves elongate and mature before they slowly start to wilt, turn brown, wither and die. Finally, flowers begin to appear, but only after the green garb known as foliage has been completely discarded.

The naked lady's scientific name is Amaryllis belladonna. Belladonna means ``beautiful lady'' and refers to the fact that juice extracted from this plant was formerly used in a beautifying eye treatment. At one time, dilated pupils were considered attractive, and juice from this belladonna lily (another name for the naked lady), applied directly to the eyes, produced the precise ocular dilation certain Italian noblewomen sought.

In the event that you have an established, sizable expanse of naked ladies and wish to share your wealth with friends and neighbors, now is the time of year to divide their bulbs. Plant two bulbs per square foot, in a vertical orientation, with their wide bases 5 inches below ground level. Expect to wait a year or two before they begin to produce flowers in their new locations. The bulbs will let you know they should be divided again - in another decade or so - when they have risen up out of the ground and are all but perched upon the soil surface.

A list of perennial companion plants for the naked lady that grow well in full-sun Valley locations would include the following: coreopsis, campanula, daylily, kniphofia, verbascum, buddleia, rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus), dusty miller and many species of salvia.

... and for the shade

The crinum lily (Crinum asiaticum) is another bulb currently in bloom. It has fragrant white or pink trumpet flowers, and it should be grown in the shade and kept moderately moist. Prior to bloom, crinum is easily recognized by long wide leaves which look more like they belong in a corn patch than in a lily field.

Bulb ideas

October is the month to plant bulbs, and now is the time to think about planting them. You can order free bulb catalogs from Breck's Bulbs, [phone], and Spring Hill Nurseries, [phone].