SUCCESS WITH LILIES
I hate to brag, but I usually do very well with roses. With a few rare exceptions, which I chalk up to diseases already afflicting specific plants when they were purchased, my roses thrive. I contribute good soil, annual helpings of compost and mulch and excellent karma, but that is it. My roses receive no sprays, supplemental water or cosseting. They thrive and I take all the credit.
With a few rare exceptions, I do poorly with lilies. I am not referring to daylilies, which are known to Latin-loving gardeners as Hemerocallis, but to the “true lilies” that are part of the genus Lilium. There are hundreds of them on the market. To create order out of that chaos, the North American Lily Society (NALS) recognizes eight hybrid lily “divisions” or groupings, plus a ninth group composed of the species or wild lilies that are the parents of all the hybrids. It’s possible that if I work my way through the NALS groupings I may find scores of lilies that adore my particular garden conditions and soar to great heights in my garden every year. I live in hope.
Visions of shapes and colors keep me going, as does the thought of heavenly lily fragrance. I love the big, heavily-scented Oriental hybrid lilies, like the best-selling ‘Stargazer’, and the fabulous white ‘Casa Blanca’. Lilium auratum ‘Gold Band’, whose freckled white petals are striped down the middle with gold, makes me swoon. All the Orientals have unrivaled fragrance and garden presence. They are the divas of the early summer garden.
Years ago, I also fell in love with the Trumpet Lilies; especially regal lilies or Lilium regale, yellow-throated stunners with maroon-streaked outer petals and bright white inner petals. Renowned plant collector Ernest Wilson nearly lost his life and his leg when a landslide interfered with his efforts to bring bulbs of the regal lily out of the Chinese wilderness in 1910. Now the lilies grow happily in many places around the world, often soaring to a height of 6 feet or more.
But not in my garden, where the few regals sulk at about 3 feet tall. I am fully prepared to stake them every year, but it never seems to be necessary. In fact there are only two true lilies that do well in my garden. One is a single ‘Stargazer’ plant that was installed last year in my front border. The other is a large stand of ‘Black Beauty’, an American hybrid, introduced in 1957.
‘Black Beauty’ is tall, dark and handsome, with reflexed flower petals that give the flowers a “Turk’s cap” appearance. The blooms are born in great profusion on 5-7 foot stems. Each petal is a deep maroon color, edged in white.
It’s possible that ‘Black Beauty’ has so many outstanding attributes that it can withstand even the lily curse that someone obviously put on my garden. It is officially classified as an “Orienpet” lily, meaning that it is a hybrid of an Oriental lily and a trumpet type. It was bred by Leslie Woodriff, an American whose greatest claim to fame is the introduction of the fabled ‘Stargazer’. Every year, the North American Lily Society conducts a poll of its members and comes out with a list of the ten most popular lilies. A lily that makes the list for three years goes into the “Hall of Fame.” ‘Black Beauty’ was the first lily to do so.
All I do with ‘Black Beauty’ is stake the tall stems and enjoy the flower show. It receives the same treatment as my less successful lilies, but seems to appreciate that treatment more.
So what’s the problem? Lilies do best when they are ensured of warm heads and cool feet. All my lilies are planted in sunny spaces and mulched, so that cannot be the problem. The lily guides always emphasize drainage and that is where I think I have erred. My garden soil is clay and no matter how hard I try, drainage is always an issue. Drainage-loving lavender only does well for me when planted on a slight slope to ensure rapid drainage. It is possible that lilies need the same treatment. By chance I installed my ‘Black Beauties’ in a slightly raised bed. Since this situation offers many of the advantages of a slope, it is probably the reason for the plants’ stellar progress.
I will order lily bulbs late this summer, as I always do. This year, I may stick to species varieties, as their inherent toughness may help me with my lily problem. I will plant them in raised situations, amend the soil for good measure and wait until this time next year. With any luck, I will be reveling in a bumper lily crop by then.
Some people slave for roses. I have never had that burden. It appears, though, that I will have to put a little more effort into lilies.