Lilium candidum
at Digging Dog

Madonna Lily

Lilium

Lily

Embracing the history of many countries, Liliums are named after a Celtic word that means whiteness, and according to an age-old Christian legend, the first lily “sprang from the tears of Eve as she went from Eden.”

The species we offer are easily grown in just about any garden of Eden with well drained soil and a sunny spot. Excellent as cut flowers, Lilies should be picked as soon as they open. In the fall, you can cut the stems back when the foliage turns brown, which allows the bulbs to store up much-needed nourishment.

Lilium candidum   

Cultivated since 3000 B.C. and named by the poet Virgil, the stately Madonna Lily is considered the oldest domesticated flower. Amassing quite a reputation throughout the centuries, it possesses supposed healing powers, is utilized as a perfume component, and since the second century has been mystically associated with the Virgin Mary.

Referring to the splendid, heavenly scented steeples, candidum is Latin for “dazzling white.” Ten to twenty open, funnel-shaped blooms with gilded anthers are held at right angles to the stems, illuminating whorled, dark green foliage that’s appealing in its own right. Rarely without greenery as overwintering basal leaves appear by early autumn, Lilium candidum’s bulbs should be shallowly positioned away from too much sun in fertile, well drained, calcium-rich sites.

Hosting other noble companions like Thalictrum ‘Elin’ and Actaea ‘Atropurpurea’, this time-honored Lily easily dignifies the landscape or an arrangement.

Blooms July–August.

Size: 3'–4' high x 10"–15" wide; hardy to zone 6.

Lilium candidum (p-1274)
Each $6.50
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