A spider lily (Hymenocallis latifolia) grew happily on my backyard patio for about five years. One night, and many nights thereafter, the raccoons began their raids.
The spider lily loves water, and I had immersed its pot inside a larger plastic pot filled with water (a water garden in miniature). Mosquitoes soon followed, so I dropped in a couple of goldfish to keep their numbers down. (Raccoons, I would learn, love goldfish.) The spider lily was uprooted many times, gnawed and tossed about the patio like a dog's chew toy. I suppose the raccoons were only seeking goldfish, because the lily remained largely intact.
I also maintained (and still do) a birdbath at ground level, just a few feet away. Sandy footprints and goldfish remnants left behind in the blue basin hinted at the nocturnal escapades of the masked rascals. Goldfish are cheap, yet I had no desire to keep feeding these bandits. And I wanted them to leave the lily in peace.
One morning I found the lily, in pieces, all over the patio. Thankfully it had been a prolific bloomer those five years, usually producing 10-12 almond-sized, avocado-green seeds every summer. There wasn't much left to salvage, and I tossed what was left on the compost heap. I still have several seedlings I kept for myself. Hopefully they'll bloom as prolifically as the original.
I photographed them just once. Each bloom lasts one evening - the marshmallow-scented white flowers open at dusk, and are pollinated by nocturnal moths.
This is a sad story.
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