Lilium (Lily)
at Digging Dog

Including Lilium formosanum, Lilium candidum, & Lilium martagon var. album

Lilium

Lily

Embracing the history of many countries, Liliums are named after a Celtic word that means whiteness, and according to an age-old Christian legend, the first lily “sprang from the tears of Eve as she went from Eden.”

The species we offer are easily grown in just about any garden of Eden with well drained soil and a sunny spot. Excellent as cut flowers, Lilies should be picked as soon as they open. In the fall, you can cut the stems back when the foliage turns brown, which allows the bulbs to store up much-needed nourishment.

Lilium candidum    

Madonna Lily

Cultivated since 3000 B.C. and named by the poet Virgil, the stately Madonna Lily is considered the oldest domesticated flower. Amassing quite a reputation throughout the centuries, it possesses supposed healing powers, is utilized as a perfume component, and since the second century has been mystically associated with the Virgin Mary.

Referring to the splendid, heavenly scented steeples, candidum is Latin for “dazzling white.” Ten to twenty open, funnel-shaped blooms with gilded anthers are held at right angles to the stems, illuminating whorled, dark green foliage that’s appealing in its own right. Rarely without greenery as overwintering basal leaves appear by early autumn, Lilium candidum’s bulbs should be shallowly positioned away from too much sun in fertile, well drained, calcium-rich sites.

Hosting other noble companions like Thalictrum ‘Elin’ and Actaea ‘Atropurpurea’, this time-honored Lily easily dignifies the landscape or an arrangement.

Blooms July–August.

Size: 3'–4' high x 10"–15" wide; hardy to zone 6.

Lilium candidum (P-1274)
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Lilium formosanum    

Formosa Lily

With fragrant clusters of up to a dozen large, pure white, trumpet-shaped flowers perched atop towering stems, this magnificent Lily brings a strong presence and spectacular late season bloom to the perennial border. After the blossoms are spent, the dried stalks turn upward and add interest to the winter garden or in dried bouquets. For a truly dynamic presentation, combine with Rheum, Salvia confertiflora and your favorite tall growing Nepeta.

Blooms August.

Size: 6' high x 2' wide; hardy to zone 5.

AVAILABLE SPRING 2012

Lilium formosanum (p-0762)
Each $7.00
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Lilium formosanum var. pricei    

Shouldered on surprisingly short stems, full-size, long white trumpet-styled flowers with reddish purple backsides exude a heavenly aroma. Often blooming the first year from seed, this alpine form populates the mountains of Taiwan, and will make a luminous, smaller scale statement in your rockery or more intimate garden space.

Blooms August – September.

Size: 10'–12' high x 8' wide; hardy to zone 5.

Lilium formosanum var. pricei (P-0544)
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Lilium martagon var. album    

Stretching across Europe to Mongolia, the original Turk’s Cap, Lilium martagon inhabits a broader range than any other Lily. This variety’s tapered, luminous towers feature up to fifty waxy pendant flowers composed of strongly recurving pristine white petals. Anchored by whorled, lustrous deep green foliage, the heavily scented blooms look absolutely sublime when planted amid Stipa gigantea.

SUMMER SHIPPING

Blooms June – July.

Size: 3'–4' high x 10"–15" wide; hardy to zone 4.

AVAILABLE SPRING 2012

Lilium martagon var. album (P-1188)
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Lilium nepalense    

Lily of Nepal

Native to the Himalayas, from northern India to Nepal and Bhutan, this highly prized exotic lily offers a peerless, bicolored pageantry of large funnellike greenish yellow blooms with recurved petals and boldly etched reddish purple throats. As many as eight, gorgeous downward facing flowers crest each medium-sized stem, clad in dark green lance-shaped leaves

Native to the Himalayas, from northern India to Nepal and Bhutan, this highly prized exotic lily offers a peerless, bicolored pageantry of large funnellike greenish yellow blooms with recurved petals and boldly etched reddish purple throats. As many as eight, gorgeous downward facing flowers crest each medium-sized stem, clad in dark green lance-shaped leaves. Once established, the Lily of Nepal will spread by underground stolons that appreciate dappled shade and cool humus-rich soil.

Once established, the Lily of Nepal will spread by underground stolons that appreciate dappled shade and cool humus-rich soil.

Blooms July – August.

Size: 2'–3' high x 12" wide; hardy to zone 6.

Lilium nepalense (P-1658)
Each $7.00
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Lilium regale    

Kings Lily

More than a hundred years ago, the revered plant collector, E. H. Wilson happened upon droves of this aptly named Chinense native of western Szechwan, and was instantly smitten by its sheer beauty and “delicious perfume”.

White trumpet-shaped flowers showcase canary yellow throats, golden anthers and flipsides flushed with a deep mauve. The 5 in. wide and 6 in. long blossoms, numbering as many as 20 per stem, surmount gray-green stalks and lustrous spaced leaves.

The unrivaled Regal Lily has it all—it’s one of the first fragrant lilies to bloom and among the most heavenly scented, is vigorous, yet poised and is easy to grow.

Blooms July – August.

Size: 3'–5' high x 12"–15" wide; hardy to zone 4.

Lilium regale (P-1659)
Each $7.00
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