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.

AVAILABLE SPRING 2011

Lilium candidum (P-1274)
Each $6.50
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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.

Lilium formosanum (p-0762)
Each $6.50
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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.

Lilium martagon var. album (P-1188)
Each $6.50
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