Lilies, anyone?

[RickR]

Stephen, a wonderful Lilium callosum, indeed!

 I have seedlings of the species, from seed collected in Russian Far East: Kedrovaja Padj.  Planted in 2009, the seeds sprouted within 15 days and seemed fairly weak, producing only one long leaf per seedling.  The 2010 season showed a few leaves per plant. But now in 2011, they have exploded in growth.  Had I known of this ensuing growth, I would have transplanted them into bigger pots! 

But early in the year I was becoming very disappointed, since the stems seemed to closely resemble L. concolor var. strictum.  I figured the seed identity had gotten mixed up.  Even as tiny buds began to appear on these little plants, I was not impressed. Blooming at this size is not unusual for the concolor species.  But as the buds began to tip and take their natural pendant position, my heart was lifted.  Yes, these are in fact the real thing!

It should be noted that these pics are not very indicative of the true species habit.  Eleven of them are growing in a small 3.5 x 3.5 x 5 inch pot.  Surely, this is not normal!  That would be Stephen's photo above.  (Thanks for posting, Stephen.)

  Lilium callosum seedlings

          10 Jul 2011                                          16 Jul 2011
               

[RickR]

I received Lilium maculatum var. wilsonii in 2006 as bulbs from the SLPG (Species Lily Preservation Group).  It is an upfacing lily with very shiny foliage.  It has been used in breeding for this characteristic as well as its flower traits, and has yielded very good cultivars.  

          Lilium maculatum var. wilsonii   12 Jul 2011

              

[RickR]

One of our native lilies in Minnesota is Lilium michiganense.  Flowers are arranged in one (usually) or two umbels.  Unlike most lily species with umbel inflorescenses, L. michiganense produces varying lengths of pedicels in the same umbel.  Also normal is a non-uniform degree of pedicel ascension.  But whatever the angle of the pedicel, the flower is always held with the same aspect, even on single flowering stems.  In the 90 degree days, growth moves along rather quickly...

       Lilium michiganense     15 Jul 2011         16 Jul 2011

        

                     17 Jul 2011

                

[Lori S.]

Beautiful!  And how observant you are, too!  How many lily species are native there?  (We, of course, are rather impoverished here with only one.)

[Hoy]

One is still better than nil Although you can sometimes find lilies as garden escapes here none are native.

If those gastropods hadn't existed I had grown more lilies

[Tony Willis]

Rick

the L. michiganense is a super plant. I managed to flower it for the first time here this year but it was only single flowers,so I hope for better next year.

[McDonough]

Wow, this is a great thread.  Thanks Rick and other Liliphiles, I've learned so much looking through the many posts; I realize how little I know about the genus, what elegant treasures the genus holds.  Never heard of L. callosum, and a delightful thing it is.  We probably take for granted our many North American Lilium species, with the focus on Asiatic ones instead, but seeing natives such as Lilium michiganense demonstrates that are some supremely beautiful species in N.A.

The Flora of North America describes 21 species (lumping many of the varieties or subspecies previously named), with a lengthy discussion of the genus; apparently the taxonomy is complex.
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=118558

[Tony Willis]

Mark

you have some really wonderful ones. Our trip this year was in part to hopefully see some of them and we were very kindly supplied with lots of sites by Gene Miro one of your great experts. Although we found lots of plants the late season meant we were much too early to see them in flower. We did however see some lovely Lilium rubescens in the redwoods on I101 in N. California. I also show an unusual form which was growing with the others.

[RickR]

We have two Minnesota native lilies:
--- Lilium michiganense
--- Lilium philadelphicum

Minnesota consists of 3 major biomes: prairie grasslands, deciduous woods and coniferous forests.  Both of these species have found niches in all three biomes.

non-native Lilium lancifolium might be found as garden remnants at old farmsteads where the buildings are long gone, but I have never seen them actually escape into the wild.

My latest batch of L. michiganense from seed began blooming this year.  I have to say, though, that while I try to be fastidious about record keeping, I'm not so much with plant care.  I had hand pollinated this seed lot from wild sourced plants.  Seed was planted very late: 26 Jan 2008 (inside), put in the refrigerator 23 April 2008, and placed outside in July for its first season of above ground growth.  The photo shows a new raised bed constructed last fall.  Until that time, I had ten seedlings crammed into two 3.5 x 3.5 x 5 inch (9x9x12.7cm) pots.  To my surprise, one plant even had two blooms!

               

[RickR]

Tony, rubescens is a nice species, and I have seen other pics of it with flowers that age darker, but never as much as the one you show.  Very nice! I tend to like flowers that age to a different color, and I presently have some Aurelian seedlings that do just that.  Even the more common Spiraea japonica 'Shibori' has a place in my yard.

Most western lilies species have germinated easily for me and I get them to the first leaf stage, but so far, none have continued in my climate.  I have never bought a western North American lily bulb to get a head start, though.  These have been on the back burner for a while now, as I focus on easier lily endeavors.

[Hoy]

Tony, rubescens is a nice species, and I have seen other pics of it with flowers that age darker, but never as much as the one you show.  Very nice! I tend to like flowers that age to a different color, and I presently have some Aurelian seedlings that do just that.  Even the more common Spiraea japonica 'Shibori' has a place in my yard.

Most western lilies species have germinated easily for me and I get them to the first leaf stage, but so far, none have continued in my climate.  I have never bought a western North American lily bulb to get a head start, though.  These have been on the back burner for a while now, as I focus on easier lily endeavors.

Do you think any of the western lilies could do here?
I am very fascinated by lilies but as I have told slugs devour the plants as fast as I get them. At my summerhouse though they fare better. However there I have to watch for lily beetles > Still many lilies do very well there.

[RickR]

Do you think any of the western lilies could do here?
I am very fascinated by lilies but as I have told slugs devour the plants as fast as I get them. At my summerhouse though they fare better. However there I have to watch for lily beetles > Still many lilies do very well there.

I don't think I can say.  I'm just not knowledgeable enough with these.  Many like a long dry summer, but cool and wet winter/spring.  L. columbianum (known to be more easily cultivated) seems to survive for certain people in the UK, and L. pardalinum likes wetter situations throughout the year, so...

Perhaps Gene Mirro will lend some advice here.

[Tony Willis]

My last lily to bloom for the year,Lilium auratum in the garden growing through a rhododendron

[RickR]

Nice, Tony.  I didn't photograph my auratums this season, because I didn't think I could top the pictures I took in a previous year.  These are also from bulbs procured from the Species Lily Preservation Group:

           Lilium auratum

          

[RickR]

Lilium leichtlinii is one of the lily species that seems to have evolved in the wild growing up through underbrush.  Even when grown out in the open, the first foot of the stem is void of leaves, and then progresses to full leaf size at 2 feet.  The inflorescense structure shown is typical for the species.

     Lilium leichtlinii     17 July 2011