Bloom Report: Hymenocallis

I have a 120-gallon tank in a public space here in town that I have journaled in various places. It is a Mexico river biotope setup featuring poecilid and goodeid livebearers, along with more-or-less representative plants. This show is from a few months ago:



I was over servicing the display last night and was so happy to discover this:



These are spider lily (Hymenocallis) blooms. I have had this plant for a couple of years and it has only flowered a few times, but it's worth the wait. These will last for just a day or so. The plant will probably soon go dormant for several months. I will remove it to a cool, dry and dark spot, then put it back in the tank again in late winter.

 

Thanks so much. Really the plants did all the work--I just dumped different kinds of salts in there form time to time. Here is another bigger shot of the flower...



The whole planting is actually looking kind of ratty right now and I need to replant it. The plants have grown leggy and thin.

 

Really it was looking better a few months ago. I hope that I can make time to replant it next week. I have quite a few plants that I can use because I was growing stuff outside this summer.

No I don't set up aquariums professionally. I put that tank together with the local planted tank club as a project that was part of my graduate studies program. I have been helping to maintain it mostly just for fun for more than a year now.