All About Lilies - an overview

It is rather an all encompassing title. On this page the aim is to explain what a “lily” is. It is only intended as an introductory page. The links on this page should take you further.  An important thing which helps understand how to treat your lilies is where they come from in the wild. Hybrid Garden Lilies are generally still only a few generations removed from their wild ancestors, and many lilies grown today are still exactly like their parents growing in the wild.

Lilies and Naming 

In the English language the name Lily is given to almost any attractive flowering plant. See our section Lilys-Lilies-Lillys!. All true Lilies are of the genus Lilium. The use of Linnaean Latin for the naming of plants has helped considerably in avoiding confusion with different local or common names. Basically all plants are put into little boxes which all fit together in a hierarchical structure. It solves a lot of problems of misunderstanding. The rules are generally quite clearly defined, but can be interpreted differently, and even periodically get rewritten (!) as knowledge or opinion progress. The trend has mainly been to increase the number of genera (usually as a steady trickle) and the family names (usually in periods of violent expansion) in an aim to solve some of the anomalies before they become too embarrassing.

Some bulbous plants have been subject to quite a flurry of naming and renaming, however for the gardener it generally does not matter what it is called as what it actually is.

The rules of naming can be quite inflexible particularly when it comes to the rules on first naming. Scilla peruviana  (- from Peru) cannot be renamed even though it is native to the Mediterranean. Scilla tubergeriana has been renamed something unpronounceable because a record has turned up pre dating the use of that name.

Trying to categories organic living material into little boxes of will always be a problem as living material by its very nature is changing all the time.

The genus Lilium is very closely related to Cardiocrinum, Fritillaria, Nomocharis and Notholirion. I would not like to be the one who decides where the axe falls to differentiate between them. When categorizing at a lower level such as specie and sub specie level things are liable to get even more difficult and opinionated. However there is no doubt however imperfect the naming system, it is a vast improvement on just using common names.

These query pages at present are only intended to really deal with true lilies and their close relatives. We do have experience by growing a range of other bulbs, but almost all of the queries we get are related to “Lilies”

Lilies Naming and Commercialism

In the real world when you buy a plant you may not be getting the plant you ordered (!). We have bought bulbs from a number of sources, sometimes in quite large quantities, sometimes at high price and over a period of about 35 years. We have found that whatever price you pay from most sources you do not necessarily get what you ordered. I believe there are several reasons for this. 

1/ the seller does not know what he is selling, or trusts his supplier  

2/ the variety for which the header is available have become more expensive on the wholesale market, so a cheaper variety is substituted. In larger pack houses the cost of having staff hanging around if the bulbs arrive late may lead to some simply packing the nearest variety which is available.              

3/ The variety is micro propagated and grown on by a grower who has either no specific knowledge of that variety/or realises at the end of the growing cycle his plants were probably wrongly labelled and it would be too expensive to write off the crop, and so passes them on without comment.

Incorrect labelling

Incorrect labelling is quite widespread with bulbs, including with lilies. In recent years for example when Lily Stargazer was in short supply many bulb sellers in this country imported “Stargazer” which proved not to be Stargazer.

Some bulb sellers/growers sometimes grow on the bulbs and the description of the plant is sometimes taken from the experience of growing these stocks on. Stargazer is sometimes described as having outward facing flowers when its main characteristic is it’s upward facing flowers, I wonder why? A few years ago the position was reversed one year when wholesale Stargazer prices fell dramatically and Lilium regale bulbs were very expensive. Guess what some suppliers put in their packs of Lilium regale instead of regale?

We ourselves have to buy in bulbs most years for several reasons. We never pass on incorrectly labelled bulbs if we are aware of it, like some other outlets. We have been caught particularly badly by imported bulbs. One Dutch firm we dealt with for the first time who claimed years of experience (selling to the Germans), sold us 24 varieties of Lilium of which there were actually only three varieties. As this was a new supplier to us we planted all their bulbs up and did not sell any on until tested, which was fortunate. We have been caught out by existing suppliers who we trust. Perhaps the only way of being certain is to regard all outside suppliers as unreliable, but I feel this is going a bit far. We have to trust someone to get a better range at a better price. I would love to hear of a wholesale grower who can consistently match the right name with the same bulb for more than one year.

For many purchasers of bulbs who get the wrong bulb, it is not really that important. If the plant has similar characteristics, such as scent, colour and height it is probably not too much to worry about, especially if you do not know it is wrongly labelled. With the large number of new varieties being named every year, it is often very difficult to know what you have got. After randomly testing Garden Centre lilies I have found that up to 50% are incorrectly labelled in some way

We ourselves are not that perfect, and have grown on varieties, oblivious to the fact they were incorrectly labelled when we obtained them. On the whole it is easier to spot incorrect naming with species. Suppliers really however should aim for 100% accuracy in naming even if it cannot be achieved

The Lily Bulb and where it comes from

Lilies generally come from parts of the world where unfavourable growing conditions are present for some of the year. This usually means cold winters, but some species have adapted to dry summers. The bulbous habit enables the plant to survive these periods and come up again another year.

Lilies are regarded as bulbs, as bulbs the main food storage area are the scales (adapted leaves) of the bulb. However lilies also often store their food supplies in the basal plate / stolons or rhizomes which also make them corms or rhizomes (!).(!). To overcome this problem of naming the bulbs are sometimes called stoloniferous bulbs or rhizomatous bulbs. This ability for the plant to go underground for part of the year makes them suitable for quite a range of environments. In the wild they can be found from Siberia to the Tropics-and most can grow in the same garden.

Life span of a Lily Bulb

Although lilies are perennials some appear more perennial than others. Individual lilies do have a theoretical infinite life. As time goes by however they are a sitting target for various pests and diseases see Pests and Diseases.

In the garden much can be done to extend their life at planting time, particularly by planting on clean ground and by keeping the lilies separated. Feeding the plants can also help the bulbs increase to form clumps so if individuals within the clump die there are others to continue. In the wild some bulbs appear to adopt a survival of its kind practice rather than just a survival of the particular individual by producing large quantities of seed. This appears to be true for some lilies where individual may only last a few years but the colony lives on, in the wild these blood lines may go back before history began.

Strategies for survival, increase and propagation

Natural chemical defences? In the wild some bulbs appear to try to protect themselves from attack. These varieties appear to often take longer to reach maturity. Perhaps the plants have to expend energy in putting up these defences. As a result some lilies that take longer to flower from seed tend to be longer lasting as an individual. Because they can be slower increasers in the wild they will be at a competitive disadvantage unless the effort proves advantageous.

Physical Defences The arrangement of the leaf has some effect on the plants survival. Long narrow leaves tend to cope better in sunny drier positions. Broader leaves arranged in whorls tend to be more shade tolerant. Leaves have a waxy upper surface which is waterproof and helps prevent disease attack and reduce water loss. Younger leaves and stems sometimes have a hairy or bristly covering-this can be quite effective in deterring Aphids.

Vegetative multiplication and clump formation lilies if given the chance will increase in size and divide (the original bulb splits up). if one of the bulbs is eaten or dies the remaining bulbs can carry on the line. With most lilies if the bulb disintegrates/or is partly eaten the remaining separate scales are capable of producing new bulbs.

 Lilies usually have two sets of roots. Annual stem roots which are produced above the main bulb on the flowering stem and roots from the base of the bulb - Basal Roots.

The annual stem roots are produced near the surface of the soil, around what would often be the rich leaf litter layer in the wild. This allows the bulb to live quite deep in often in quite poor soil yet the plant has access to the rich topsoil.

Lilies also have basal roots which are usually contractile. That is the roots after being formed will then contract. This can move the bulb, either downwards or sideways. Most young bulbs are initially dragged downwards but on older clumps the movement is more often sideways (this is why so many lilies get damaged by over enthusiastic gardeners). Moving the bulbs downwards gets them away from extremes of weather (particularly important in areas with very cold winters) and from being eaten. Moving the plant sideways moves the plant onto fresh new ground. Contractile roots generally are only capable of moving the bulb up to about 2 inches per year. The basal roots individually last about 18 months and can extract water on established plants up to 3 ft down, making established lilies surprisingly drought resistant.  

 The bulbs are sometimes moved on stolons. The basal plates of the bulb can extent sideways often several inches a year though generally less than one foot. Only a few lilies do this, mainly American species and some from the Old World.

Wandering stems A few species of lily sometimes send the stem out sideways before it reaches the soil surface. Bulblets can form anywhere on this stem, below the ground. Only a few lilies do this regularly. The one which the author has had most experience with is L. nepalense, a real escape artist of the lily world. These bulbs can move up to three feet a year. When planted carefully upright in a pot this plant more often emerges through the drainage holes than the top of the pot. This rapid movement allows the lily to find fresh new ground and make it very difficult for hungry animals to find.

Stem bulblets lilies often produce bulblets on the flowering stems below soil level. If the main bulb is destroyed these bulblets can replace the original bulb. Stem bulblets are occasionally produced on the flowering stem above ground these generally work loose in late summer and can be scattered several feet in the breeze. Some lilies can be induced to produce stem bulblets by removing the main bulb while the plant is in active growth. See propagation

Seed Propagation.  Most lilies in the wild rely for long term survival on seed. Seeds produced by lilies are all winged to a greater or lesser extent. Seed in the wild is distributed by wind. The pods are designed to open more on a drying day, and are more likely to be scattered on a windy day, as most of the seed has to be lifted out of the pod by air movement. As a result seed can fly many yards from the plant and some can travel much further. In addition to the greater distance of spread - the offspring are all genetically different individuals from their parents, thereby giving a greater ability to adapt to a changing situation. Seedling lilies generally grow away virus free even if both the parents were infected. Seed propagation is the most important strategy for long term survival of most species in the wild. See propagation