I distinctly remember the first time I really noticed the surprise lily, or Spider Lily, as they’re generally known here in Mississippi. I’m pretty sure that I had seen them before in my life, but I hadn’t really noticed them until they began popping up in the front yard at the farmhouse where Jon and I lived our first year of marriage.<\/p>\n
We rented the house from a great old farmer, Mr. Blocker. I have no idea how old he was back then, I’m assuming mid to late 70s. He was still actively farming, but I think he was also interested in what the newlyweds were up to, and so he sometimes turned up on weekend mornings.<\/p>\n
Anyway, to have dozens of these gorgeous, red-orange lilies pop up in my yard was unexpected and delightful occurrence for me. One Saturday morning, Mr. Blocker came along to find me joyfully picking an armful of them. I was so happy about it, in fact, that he playfully accused me, saying, “What you so happy about this mornin’? You been up drinkin’ margaritas or sompthin?”<\/p>\n
He was a hoot.<\/p>\n
Fast forward twenty or so years, and I find myself back in Starkville, and guess what just came up in my yard?<\/p>\n
Yes, spider lilies. And, the master gardener who lived here before us arranged them so well. Instead of popping up just willy-nilly in the front yard, they’re arranged on the edge of beds with beautiful plantings behind them. <\/p>\n
I’ve always loved the color red-orange. Always. So, in this house that I have been painting for the past four months, I decided that I really wanted a red-orange room. Most of the rooms are white, because I really like that too, except for the boys rooms –which they all wanted to be blue. What is it with boys, and blue? Anyway, I finally settled on a color and I painted and painted — trying to use color to unite a room which, before, had borne five different wall coverings in all — real brick, fake brick, shingle siding, bookshelves, and pine paneling.<\/p>\n
It’s a funny color. Sometimes it looks red, sometimes orange, and once at the very end of a day it looked to be a deep salmon pink. I didn’t really have a name for it, until now.<\/p>\n
Now, I know what it is.<\/p>\n
See? It’s spider lily red.<\/p>\n
Happy Monday, y’all!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I distinctly remember the first time I really noticed the surprise lily, or Spider Lily, as they’re generally known here in Mississippi. I’m pretty sure that I had seen them before in my life, but I hadn’t really noticed them … Continue reading ![\"IMG_3732.JPG\"](\"http:\/\/www.annbarlow.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/IMG_3732.jpg\")
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