Martagon lilies

Martagon lilies
Cody H (Wed, 20 Jun 2018 22:58:02 PDT)

My martagon hybrids are flowering now as well here in Carnation, Washington
(where it has been a relatively warm and moist spring for our area
interrupted by short periods of cold, heavy rain). I think they smell
wonderful! Mine are all in pots since we just recently moved here and I
haven’t had time to put in garden beds yet in which to plant them. They
perfume the entire nursery zone (where my plant collection bides it’s time
in pots) with a sweet, heavy, almost fruity fragrance that I find much more
appealing than some of the more perfume-y smells of various Asian lilies
I’ve noticed. Although I would say L. duchartrei has an even nicer perfume.

I grow a number of the ‘Such-and-such Morning’ named martagon hybrids, and
also one called ‘Gaybird.’ Next to the martagons, Lilium ‘Fusion’ has
several buds, and I’m looking forward to seeing its far-fetched hybrid
flowers in person. At my parents garden north of Seattle, the martagons
‘Arabian Night’ (or is it ‘Arabian Knight’?) are 5’ tall and covered in
blooms, but not very fragrant, and Lilium pardalinum is even taller, with
numerous 3” buds just about to open.

No spontaneous martagon seedlings yet here, although many of the lily seeds
I sowed in pots last winter have been sprouting nicely. I’m particularly
excited about L. lijiangense and several Nomocharis species I got from last
years various seed exchanges, all of which are just putting out their first
true leaves.
On Wed, Jun 20, 2018 at 6:20 PM Rodger Whitlock <totototo@telus.net> wrote:

Martagon lilies are flowering right now, and doing better than in the
past. They are even starting to self-sow a little, so the patch is
bigger than when originally planted; and one stray seed germinated right
by my front steps and is flowering right now.

This is not because I am some super-gardener. Nor is it because the
seeds I grew these from were in some way "special". The show is due
entirely to the conditions of growth, so let me outline those:

1. Climate: cool Mediterranean with wet winters and cool summers.

2. Extra water? None.

3. Soil: a clay called "floured sand." This clay, unlike the blue marine
clay so common here, can be worked when wet because it isn't sticky.

4. Drainage: poor. I get standing water near the martagons during wet
periods.

5. Light: almost no direct sun but plenty of sky light.

6. Pests: deer, which in many seasons eat all the buds.

The great drawback to martagons is that though they are very beautiful,
they smell bad and hence cannot be used as a cut flower.

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