The lycoris is here

It's a few days later than it was last summer, but the lycoris is in bloom, and just like it does every year it took me completely by surprise. All of a sudden, these amazing stalks with reddish/mauve buds show up above the pachysandra bed! Its nickname is an apt one: Surprise Lily.
When I mentioned the lycoris in these pages last July, a loyal and now deceased reader from Marlboro Village shared the following anecdote, and I'm going to run it again in her memory because we all really miss her:
"Another nickname for Lycoris is, I believe, Naked Lady, because of the lack of foliage and probably the pink hue. Story about that: a friend once phoned someone with whom she'd been discussing these flowers and burst out as soon as the phone was picked up: `I've just found several more Naked Ladies in my garden!' A silence, then:  `Lady, I think you have the wrong number.' "