City of Naked Ladies

One of the explanations for why Webb City has been known as the City of Flags is that a nickname for iris flowers is flags.

Irises proliferated in Webb City, especially when Amos Hatten collected and raised them on part of the city block that his house was on (between Ball and Roane and Sixth and Seventh streets). He was also known to give them away annually.

So the city may be the City of Flags in May, but look around, and you’ll see it’s the City of Naked Ladies in August.

The leaves of the amaryllis belladonna species come up from bulbs in early spring and then are gone long before the pale-pink blooms appear naked on tall stems in August. Some call them surprise lilies because they seem to shoot up and bloom in one step overnight.

The best stands of naked ladies that we’ve seen are in the 600 block of South Oronogo Street and 1400 block of West Daugherty Street.