Western lilies (was Lilium candidum)
Jane McGary (Mon, 14 Jun 2004 18:13:28 PDT)
Jim asked,
I have been hoping you or some
other west coast grower would have something to say about the so-called
dry-land western lilies such as Lilium kelloggii, L. bolanderi, L.
rubescens and L. washingtonianum.
In my experience, none of the west coast lilies is easy here. Even L.
pardalinum and its various hybrids/forms seem challenged by what my garden
has to offer.
L. pardalinum enjoys moisture year round in my garden. In the mountains one
sometimes sees it growing right in the spray of mountain streams. Perhaps
the hot, humid east coast weather makes it susceptible to disease, although
I've never seen Botrytis on it here.
Years ago a friend gave me some freshly collected seed of Lilium
washingtonianum. I eventually had several hundred seedlings in a coldframe.
Having read that this species grows in forests, I had started them in a
shaded coldframe. The frame was left open during our wet, humid summer.
That was the last I ever saw of them - not one survived the summer.
OK, they grow in forests, but not what an East Coast person would think of
on hearing the word "forest." They grow typically on very steep slopes in
pine and fir forests, above the normal winter snow elevation, and they are
very dry in summer owing to the steep, rocky sites and competition from the
trees. This very beautiful large and fragrant lily is regarded as a great
challenge even in my neighborhood, only a half hour's drive from some of
its wild sites but much lower in elevation. However, the similar though
smaller L. rubescens, from northern California, is more amenable to garden
culture, if you can keep the foul rabbits from eating it (mine are in
little wire cages).
For those of us here in the east, it's very difficult to understand how the
requirements of Lilium washingtonianum differ from, for instance, those of
the so-called wet land lilies such as L. maritimum, L parvum and so on.
The only "bog" lily I know of on the west coast is L. occidentale. I think
the very rare L. pitkinense is also a bog species, perhaps Mary Sue can
confirm? Even L. occidentale (which is on the endangered list) doesn't grow
in stagnant water, but in clear, slowly moving fresh water, often with
Darlingtonia, the West Coast analog of the eastern Sarracenias.
L. parvum is regarded as an easy garden plant in most parts of the country
and has been used a lot in breeding hybrids. I grow L. kelloggii and L.
bolanderi in the bulb frame to keep them from getting too much water in
late spring (we just had two solid weeks of rain). However, they don't want
to be parched in summer, just not too moist.
For complete information on growing species lilies, see Edward McRae's book
"Lilies" (Timber Press, 1998).
Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon