Warning: a long story ensues.
Some of you may remember my dismay when my L. nepalense from Chen Yi didn't have the same foliage as several other DG member's nepalense's. How mine had leaves more narrow and more sparsely set on the stem. I questioned its authenticity. In fact, I was almost sure it couldn't be that species.
Well it bloomed this season:
Here you can see the narrow foliage (look hard) and the flowers recurving.
And the final shape:
Well that clinched it, not nepalense. But what could it be? I could not find any species that would even remotely fit its characteristics in total. So I put the matter aside, and decided to post pics on the Lilium yahoo group and such, and let the big shots have at it.
Meanwhile (just last week) at our Rock Garden Society meeting, our speaker was Marcel Jouseau, who has been to the Himalayas and China several times. He showed us power point photos of many alpines, and I almost jumped right out of my chair when I saw it. My lily! Well almost. It was L. nepalense, with the deep chocolate throat, but the foliage was exactly like mine! This was very promising.
After the talk, I spoke with him and asked him about the variability of the chocolate markings on the lily.
“Oh yes” he said, “and there is even a lemon yellow variety with no dark throat at all.”
Relief, elation, joy. I finally have it identified! (People who know me from these forums, know I can be a bit goofy at times. Just run with it.)
And there it is, right in front of me on The Genus Lilium web site, but I was so caught up with the foliage not matching, that I never considered it:
Lilium nepalense var. concolor.
Goodness, there sure is a lot of variability in that species!
Lefty, very interesting story. There certainly is a lot of variation in the species. Though this might not be exactly what you were looking for, it certainly has beauty of its own. I love the color and the petals.
Thanks for sharing.
You got that right: I so wanted the dark throat. But it is pretty unique in itself wht the soft yellow and green veins. And we now know that at least this variety of nepalense is hardy in zone 4. Winter temps were fairly normal. also, I didn't get plastered with snow like you Wisconsinites did, and not even like they did in the Twin Cities.
Now if only my Lilium majoense seedlings turn out like Wallaby's(with the dark throat)Heavenly Grace http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3671265 , I couldn't ask for more.
Nice one Lefty! It has class!
I guess L. majoense might be variable too, but there is little information on that one, unless you have more on it. The ones I have seen have a dark throat. I'm pleased I bought those species last year, as Rare Plants have little available this autumn. I just wish I could have spent more on some of the others they had!
I sowed 12 seeds of L. majoense and I think every one grew, they are quite robust. I wonder how long they will take to flower, that will be painful to wait for.
What ever happened to Chen Yi anyway? Wonder if Rareplants got species from her.
Mainiac got an email from Chen Yi this fall. I guess most of her stock last year "became rotten" as she put it, and it was not saleable. She has a new website too:
http://planteliste.net/temp/gallery/gallery.html
it's basically the same as her old ones.
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I found majoense seedlings to be comparatively robust also. I don't keep such detailed records as number of seeds planted, but if I had planted seed in my usual pattern, 7 out of 9 germinated. They were not as robust as L.amabile, and about the same as L.concolor, but certainly not as fast growing as Pards trumpet hybrids.
My L.majoense seedlings are still quite green. It doesn't grow very tall as compared to trumpets, so I imagine the seedlings won't look so robust. I see if I can get a pic tomorrow of mine.
I notice Chen Yi doesn't have a price list, maybe because they all went rotten? I wonder why that was.
I would imagine Rare Plants would buy from Chen Yi, maybe that's why they haven't got many this year!
Chen Yi emails her price list individually to customers. If you want to see what it looks like, Dmail me your regular email address so I can attach it. (You can only attach a pic to Dmail.) Prices almost doubled this year.
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My majoense seedlings are still green too, along with all of Pard's seedlings, and formosanum var. pricei.
My L.majoense seedlings. On the right is L. centifolium, left L. sargentiae.
llilyfan and I want to put in an order for species lilies to Yen Chi. Sue already has her import permit. I'd like to try some of the unusual stuff. Don't know what will survive in Iowa, but worth a try....
I don't know where I will put them, but I sure want to try some of these uncommon beauties. Might have to leave that new bed open for them.
Can't you just squeeze them in between daylilies or columbines?
I will study the habits of the ones I hope to get and they may just get tucked in!
This Lilium nepalense var. concolor seems to have more cold hardy foliage than most too. Even more than orentpets. Although it has finally now froze up.
BTW, care to experience a Leftwood original?
Hop on over here just for a moment. The truth is always stranger funnier than fiction.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/791039/
