Plant of the Month : Lilium martagon

My first encounter with this lily in the wild was on a hiking tour through the Dolomite mountains in Northern Italy about 35 years ago. It grew on a shaded steep slope in the Brixen area close to the path I was climbing. It likes dappled shade and grows in single stems in forested areas, scattered and rare. Ever since that encounter, I had dreamed of growing it in a natural setting in my garden, a few solitary stems with those freckled pinkish-orange curls growing out of a dark place, in front of yew or under a large shrub. 

Bulbs are very slow growers and need to be planted in the correct depth - apparently its roots first draw the bulb to the correct depth quite deep down in the place where it wants to grow, before it sends up a flowering stem.

I had planted the first bulb under a large beech tree. Nothing happened for several summers, so I assumed it had died or been eaten by mice and forgot about it. Six years later, when we moved out of the house and that garden, the first stem with flowers appeared ... and when I tried to dig it out to take it with me, I could not reach down to the bulb; it was hiding underneath the thick root system of the beech. To my dismay I only managed to tear out the stalk - I thought I had killed it finally. Since then, however, it turns up faithfully, year after year, still growing in that place underneath the beech tree and thriving in neglect by the tenants who live there now - Lilium martagon obviously thrives best if it is ignored and nearly forgotten. 

over thirty flowers on one stem! 

In my new garden I planted several bulbs at different places to give it a chance. To our amazement it has found a place next to the parking lot - heaven knows how it got there. I certainly never put it there: the view from the garden towards this rarity with the silvery shiny surface of my husband's Porsche as background is a very surprising unusual sight. Putting it positively: it is a very contemporary modern, self-conscious, artsy location, and she may think it is to her advantage to show off as a bonnet ornament  ....

 It proves the point, though, that this lily thrives on neglect and seems to move around in the ground to choose its own space.  It has multiplied since then and even produced seedlings. We have marked the spots as not to inadvertently dig the ground up or plant something else above it when it is in its dormant period from September to May. 

This plant was put in the ground as a small bulb in 1997, sent up its first shoot in 2003 and this year has produced over 30 flowers.