It looks like Amaryllis belladonna, not to be confused with Hippeastrum, the bulb that is mass produced and sold during the winter months as a potted houseplant that is called amaryllis.

Could possibly be a Nerine as well. Also a late summer/early fall naked stem bloomer.

nope, that is NOT a nerine! I have grown amaryllis belladonna in pots for years, you will just have to trust me, it is an amaryllis belladonna.

Thank you, any tips? inherited a garden bed with plenty of these bulbs, seems to have conflicting info on division?

Jeb, I'd love you to point out the distinctions that convince you this couldn't possibly be a nerine.

Likely Amaryllis belladonna. Doesn’t resemble a Nerine.

- gardengal, I am sure you know how when you have grown several different cultivars of a plant and for many (many many) years, lets take Japanese Maples for instance which I know you are familiar with - then you see another example of it and you say to yourself "yes, I fully recognize that plant because I am currently growing it or have grown it many times in the past in several different locations and am positive of the name of the plant" and then you say to yourself (and others) with definite certainty "I recognize that plant from hands on experience so it must be a Japanese Maple."

- I have many years experience growing Amaryllis belladonna and don't need a key to identify it correctly! Without a doubt the plant in the picture above is Amaryllis belladonna.

You do get partial credit for naming another bulbous plant it resembles and blooms without the presence of its leaves at approximately the same time! That was a real good guess! :) :) :)

this is one of my amaryllis belladonnas blooming, they do have differently shaped petals than nerines. This plant does resemble nerines somewhat in character and habit. The bulbs were purchased at a local garden center incorrectly labeled as lycoris squamigera.

"The bulbs were purchased at a local garden center incorrectly labeled as lycoris squamigera."

That's a big mistake as the Amaryllis belladonna won't be hardy in zone 5!

I had to crop/blow this up a bit more than I would have liked, but shows how Amarine petals are a little narrower and spider-like. This is Kitty de Jong's 'Belladiva'. Another one I have has even narrower petals.

UpperBayGardener - when I saw the bulbs for sale I knew that they were not L squamagera, I went to the counter with one packaged bulb (from Holland) and had the same thought as you - that they probably wouldn't survive the winter - they were being sold along with the tulips and daffodils in the fall! I told the clerk that I wanted the other two packages that were still on the rack and bought all three bulbs, feeling like I had "rescued" them from death. They were all put into pots, grown in a greenhouse and produce lots of foliage during the winter that stays green until late spring. When they are dormant I let the pots bake in the hot dry sun all summer. I honestly didn't know what the "squamigeras" were until they produced flowers for me.

These are my 'Beladivas', surprisingly they have returned and multiplied for me in the ground for about 10 years years in zone 5. The soil here is a fertile sandy loam soil that is on the dry side.

Hey that's awesome to know! Nerines are definitely hardier than Amaryllis so it makes sense, although I think a cold enough winter might be the end of them for you.

Are you old enough to have been familiar with "Shield's Gardens" somewhere in the Midwest? He was experimenting with a lot of rare ZA geophytes in a midwestern climate. I have one of his Crinum hybrids I need to "rescue" from being in a bad spot. More later...