Every gardener has an irresistible favorite flower. Mine is the lily. I buy lilies from catalogs and on impulse in garden centers. With a little planning, they can grace the garden from spring until fall.
Native to the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere, lilies require a cold dormant period and so do poorly in USDA Zones 9 -10. Most require well-drained soil in a sunny site. As the old saying goes, lilies want their feet in shade and their heads in the sun. I depend on companion plants for the shade. The lilies pop up adding fragrant splashes of color in the border.
(Image: Cover art for A Contemplation Upon flowers, by Bobby Ward)
There are two lily species native to our eastern woodlands. Both the Canada lily and the leopard lily are adapted to a damp, partially-shaded environment. The Canada lily can be found from Quebec to the mountains of Alabama. In the North the flowers are yellow or orange while in the South, they are a deep red. Turks cap leopard lily is found from Massachusetts to Georgia and Alabama.
Lilium candidum may be the first domesticated flower. In ancient Crete, it was a motif for gold jewelry as well as a subject for frescos, almost 5000 years ago. The Romans used the dried bulbs to treat wounds and sores. Their armies grew the flowers along the roadsides so they were readily available. In the Christian church these white lilies symbolize purity and became associated with the Virgin Mary, thus the common name “Madonna Lily.”
This Balkan native requires warm, well-drained soil and good air circulation. I have tried to grow it twice and though the plant came up, it did not bloom.
Our Easter lily is native to some islands in southern Japan. It was introduced into England in 1777. After World War I a solider brought bulbs back to his Oregon home. The area along the Oregon-California border is the ideal environment in which to cultivate these lilies. They require a great deal of care over three years to begin flowering. Because they bloom in summer, strict temperature control is used to force them to bloom at Easter. You may plant an Easter lily in the garden where it will thrive for years in a sunny site.
Why is it called the Easter lily? The tradition is that the white flowers symbolize the purity of Christ. The trumpet shape announces the news of the resurrection. Thus the flower represents rebirth and hope.
Though there are nine divisions of lilies, most that are available are products of the hybridizer’s art. They come in every color except blue. Besides the dramatic trumpets, flowers may be bowl or funnel shaped or have recurved tepals called turks cap, of which the tiger lily is an example.
Asiatic lilies bloom from late spring into midsummer and are widely available. Wonderfully fragrant oriental lilies bloom from mid- to late summer. Asiatic lilies have been crossed with both oriental and trumpet lilies resulting in fragrant problem-free cultivars. I especially like the oriental/trumpet hybrids. These have very large fragrant flowers on top of strong tall stems.
It is easy to see why lilies have been much-loved flowers for thousands of years.
They have so many glorious attributes including a uniquely dramatic presence, that wow factor every gardener desires.
Master gardener Ann Bartlett is spending these quiet quarantine days considering the lilies in the ornamental beds surrounding her home.
