Lilium amabile
| Lilium amabile | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 5 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 3' |
| Width: | 1' |
| Blooms: | Mid Summer |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Lilium amabile
Propagation: Seed - immediate epigeal germination[1]. Sow thinly in pots from late winter to early spring in a cold frame. Should germinate in 2 - 4 weeks[2]. Great care should be taken in pricking out the young seedlings, many people prefer to leave them in the seed pot until they die down at the end of their second years growth. This necessitates sowing the seed thinly and using a reasonably fertile sowing medium. The plants will also require regular feeding when in growth. Divide the young bulbs when they are dormant, putting 2 - 3 in each pot, and grow them on for at least another year before planting them out into their permanent positions when the plants are dormant[K].
Division with care in the autumn once the leaves have died down. Replant immediately[3].
Bulb scales can be removed from the bulbs in early autumn. If they are kept in a warm dark place in a bag of moist peat, they will produce bulblets. These bulblets can be potted up and grown on in the greenhouse until they are large enough to plant out[3].
Cultivation: Prefers an open free-draining humus-rich loamy soil with its roots in the shade and its head in the sun[3]. Plants are probably lime tolerant[4][2][3]. Succeeds in ordinary garden soil. Does well in limy soils and also succeeds in acid soils. Prefers a sunny position.
A very ornamental[5] and easily grown plant[2]. The flowers are malodorous according to one report[4], whilst another says that they have a powerful oriental perfume[6].
Stem rooting, it is best planted 15cm deep in semi-shade[4][3].
The plant should be protected against slugs in early spring. If the shoot tip is eaten out the bulb will not grow in that year and will lose vigour[3].
Bulbs are best planted out into their permanent positions in early to mid-autumn in cool temperate zones and up to late autumn in warmer areas, this allows them to become established before new top growth commences in spring[3].
Range: E. Asia - Korea
Habitat: Limestone formations[4].
Edibility: Bulb - cooked[7][8]. It can be used as a vegetable in similar ways to potatoes.
Flower buds - cooked[7][9][8].
Young shoots - cooked[7][9][8]. Eating the young shoots will prevent the bulb from growing any more in that year with a consequent loss of vigour or even the death of the plant, so is not to be recommended[K].
Pollinators: Bees
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Seed Ripens: Early Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ Royal Horticultural Society. The Plantsman Vol. 4. 1982 - 1983. Royal Horticultural Society, 1982.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Reed, David. Lilies and Related Plants. 1989.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Woodcock, Hubert. Lilies - Their Culture and Management. Country Life, 1935.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ Genders, Roy. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale, 1994.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.