Flowering now is the amazing Hymenocallis azteciana, from Northern Mexico. The wide glacous foliage, which doesn’t emerge until June, is enough reason to grow this dazzling spider lily, but the clumps are also topped with 3′ tall spikes of narrow-petalled white flowers, which open each evening. Our form is from an original collection in Jalisco, Mexico, now grown from seed. As is the case with most nocturnally-opening flowers, they are pollinated by large moths. Since we don’t have any large moths configured propertly to pollinate it correctly, we only get seed if we run around pollinating them by hand. Without this sexual ritual, Hymenocallis azteciana simply wouldn’t be commercially available.
Would common American small moths work?
Garden in the Woods in Framington, Mass, keeps large moths. I wonder if they have noctural plants?
We simply don’t know. Based on the spacing of the floral parts, we expect it needs a large sphinx-like moth.
The Garden just told me they have Giant Silk Moths which are native and thrive, but don’t pollinate anything they know of for sure