Lilium

Mary Sue Ittner msittner@mcn.org
Sat, 25 Jun 2005 10:01:57 PDT
Dear All,

I've added some new pictures to the Lilium wiki page:
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…

When Jim Waddick was talking about this edible Lilium from China I realized 
that it was the one that looked like it was going to bloom for the first 
time from 1999 Nargs seed. O.K. so I'm not very fast with Lilium seed. Now 
that John Grimshaw has told us how to grow them from seed: 
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbslist/old.php/…
maybe I'll do better. Last fall I put Lilium davidii in the ground which is 
often what I do when I can't get something to bloom in a container. I 
feared my garden would be too dry for it in summer and this still may be 
true most years. But this year with the extra rainfall it is blooming.

I also added pictures of Lilium humboldtii (this one started from seed fall 
2000 from Wayne Roderick seed via Cal Hort). I planted some out in the 
ground last fall and kept at least a couple in containers. It has been 
blooming this yearin the ground and in one of the containers and besides 
the flowers has interesting whorled leaves.  I was planning to add my 
picture and now that we have had a recent question about wild populations 
of it, I can provide a picture of it in cultivation for those who are curious.

Finally a number of years ago (July 2003) we discussed Lilium pitkinense 
and a plant I had obtained from Diana as L. pardalinum ssp. giganteum or 
Lilium pardalinum 'Giganteum' that Jane and Ken Hixson told us was once 
called L. harrisianum and may be a form of L. pardalinum or a natural 
hybrid between it and L. humboldtii. Instead of filling your pot with 
offsets like most L. pardalinum this one has a rhizome that just gets 
longer. Jane had advised me to plant mine out. It would be too big to be 
container grown and much happier in the ground. Last fall I finally did 
that and I put pictures of it on the wiki that show the results. My L. 
pitkinense continues to grow slowly, but has bloomed now for the third time 
and this year there were three flowers, each on their own stalk. This is 
quite different from 'Giganteum' which this year actually had two stalks 
with five flowers each. This has been an unusual year so I think it is too 
early to predict how it will be in future years.

Mary Sue

Mary Sue Ittner
California's North Coast
Wet mild winters with occasional frost
Dry mild summers 


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