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Lilium Formosanum - A harbringer of Autumn
Autumn must be almost upon as my Easter Lilies or Lilium formosanum are already beginning to flower. I adore these stately lilies as they are so easy to grow, in fact they pop up in the most unlikely places. My sister found one flowering in a rubbish heap area of a marina in Picton last week. Stout stems grow at least 1.5 metres high and are topped by between three and nine trumpets, depending on the age and size of the bulb. The long narrow trumpets are white with flared mouths and have distinctive purple brown stripes on their exterior.
Like all Lilies this is a superb cut flower. Pick in bud for maximum vase life and leave a proportion of the green stem behind to feed the bulb. Flowers that are left to adorn the garden will reward with beautiful brown seed pods which can be picked as dried foliage to last indoors for many years. Scatter seeds where you want them to grow as soon as they are released from the pods. Within two years you will have these gorgeous flowering sentinels gracing your garden. Bulbs are easy to dig up and move around the garden. Best done when first shoots appear in late autumn. Easter Lillies need perfect drainage in sun or semi shade. Stems don’t appear to need staking. This Lily is delicately scented, not overpowering like some.
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