Commonly known as ‘Turkscap Lily’
Martagon lilies are excellent subjects for naturalising in the woodland garden or for growing in a border. You can grow them in big deep pots and we plan to do this for the next Chelsea Flower Show to make the point about how well they can complement azaleas and camellias when these are nearly or completely over in May and June.
They like to be grown in full sun and a sunny woodland glade is perfect. The true species grows from Europe to Mongolia but breeders now offer a variety of different colours in addition to the pure pink-purplish-red L. martagon or its pure white form.
These lilies are totally hardy and need to be planted 6in deep in groups for best effect. The leaves can be up to 6in long and are lance shaped and hairy on their undersides. In early summer the flowering spikes grow to 4ft or, when established, perhaps a little more. The flowers can number as many as 50 from a single bulb. They are nodding or ‘turkscap’ and up to 2in across.
What a welcome addition to your garden and much easier to grow well than so many other oriental or trumpet lilies with much larger flowers!
