Fragrance of the Orient...

Lilies and fragrance! Can you think of a plant that epitomises scent in the garden better than the lily? Personally I can only think of another one, the Daphne - but as luck would have it, they both flower at the opposite end of the calendar, and since I generally prefer to linger in the garden in July than January, I really rather enjoy my lilies more. Of course one might feel more lenient toward the winter Daphnes if one didn't live on chalk, if one had huge bushes of D. bholua from which one dared to cut armfuls to bring into the warmth of the house but this is not the case and lilies grow far better for me.

Lilium is a genus that contains very many interesting plants and it would be very difficult to say which one I like the most for they are all very beautiful. Not all of them have a fragrance though and as with roses, one feels rather cheated when there is no scent to the beautiful flowers. The martagons with their clusters of nodding flowers are such example. One really would love them to have a myrrh scent, especially the dark dalmaticum sort or the ghostly pure white form. But alas! the only way to get a fragrance out of them is to spray away with Baldessarini on a regular basis. Very expensive and not nearly as convincing as one would hope for. No, it is much easier to cultivate them in conjuction with a few regal lilies. Lilium regale is undoubtedly the most elegant and perfumed of all lilies. Its slender stems are puncuated by very narrow leaves that give it a light ferny appearance. They always bend slightly downwards in a polite Japanese salutation as if to show they have humility when really they are quite blousy flowers! From long purple-flushed buds open large white corollas with a yellow throat and conspicuous orange anthers. Even a blind person couldn't fail to notice them for they have a heady fragrance that permeates the air with astonishing effectiveness. This lily was introduced only at the beginning of the last century by one of the last great plant explorers, Ernest Wilson. What a sensorial experience it must have been for him when he came upon a valley covered with this plant in full flower in 1903! The collection of it very nearly cost him his life when he was caught in an avalanche and had one of his legs crushed under a boulder and still, this is the plant through which he wanted to be remembered. Luckily for us, this lily is most amicable in cultivation and has now become readily available, as has it's pure white form, L. regale album.

What prompted me to write this note about lilies is not actually the regal lily but another magnificent fragrant lily, the oriental 'Golden Stargazer' that I have flowering in pots at the moment. Oriental lilies are hybrids with open flowers derived from the two Japanese species, L. speciosum and L. auratum. Both plants are very beautiful but prone to virus and usually short lived, especially the latter.

One wish it was easier for it is a lily of exceptional beauty. It has tall pliable stems from which dangle gracefully the large white and yellow flowers. 'Golden Stargazer' doesn't share its elegant habit, but has in my opinion the most beautiful flower of all the hybrids and a vigour that isn't diminished over the years. It's a bit short for my liking and I grow it in long tom pots to give it extra height but otherwise I really adore it and think it lives up to its name - not a small feat when one thinks that the original 'Stargazer' is the most cultivated lily in the world!

Oriental lilies are the easiest thing to grow in pots, being perfectly happy for several years without needing repotting. They seem to thrive on neglect and all one has to do to keep them happy is to top dress them with a handful of well rotted manure in the spring. Here, I water them when I think about it (they prefer to be on the dry side) and without fail they come into flower in August. I move them where they can be appreciated whilst they flower and when they have finished blooming I put them back in the nursery where they are almost forgotten until the following spring.