White Amaryllis Belladonna adds stunning beauty to the growing list of warm climate bulbs. This large bulb produces trumpet-shaped flowers around a central cluster. It grows best in Zones 6-9, where each bulb sends up a stem from bare ground, giving it the name “Naked Lady.”

Gardeners introduced pink Amaryllis Belladonna into cultivation in the early eighteenth century. The plant reproduces slowly through bulb division or seeds. Over time, it has naturalized in lower elevations and coastal regions of the U.S. West Coast, where the climate mirrors its native habitat in South Africa.

In the 1800s, Australian breeders created hybrid Amaryllis Belladonna. They continued hybridizing it, resulting in stunning color variations like peach, white, cream, magenta, and red.

To plant these bulbs, place them about one inch below the soil surface. As they grow, each bulb will divide and produce one or two tall, leafless stems in late summer. These stems, which can reach 15 to 30 inches in height, bear clusters of two to twelve funnel-shaped flowers. The plants don’t require summer watering but will thrive if given water. Birds often spread the seeds, so you might find rogue blooms throughout your garden or even along the road.

In hybridizers’ fields, White Amaryllis Belladonna blooms alongside other colors. While some flowers have finished blooming, the white ones remain vibrant. After blooming, the plants die back, leaving the field bare until spring. In spring, the bulbs send up fleshy leaves, which die back in summer, leaving only dried, brown foliage. The cycle then repeats as new stems shoot up and bloom again, producing the familiar “Naked Ladies” once more.