Lilies Bloom in August

If you are one who considers the lily season practically over when Madonnas wither in June and regals shed their last petals in July, you may be amazed at the list of satisfying and beautiful August blooming lilies.

Of course, the weather has a way of fouling up things… not only family picnics and BBQ’s but also a simple statement such as “These lilies bloom in August.” Should it be an early season, the weather abnormally dry or hot, some of the lilies normally blooming in August may have finished in late July. If the weather remains cool with plenty of moisture (which means more cloudy days) , July-blooming lilies may bloom on into August.

But it makes little difference when lilies bloom they are aristocrats of the garden and are lovely any day or any, month.

Lilium callosum is the midget of the lily family. It may show its first diminutive blossoms toward the end of July and still have plenty of buds left for August. The small scentless blossoms open on slender but sturdy, erect stems that may grow three to five feet tall. The segments of the nodding flowers shape themselves into a narrow tube before recurving. They are brick red in color, faintly spotted with black toward the base. Because the blossoms are small, we set the plants in groups of ten or 12 to make a border display. Fortunate is the gardener who has the yellow form, L. callosum luteum. It is considered more choice than the dull red. Bulbs are very rare but occasionally they are obtainable.

The giant of the lily family (referring to blossom size - there are taller lilies) blooms at this time, too. It is Lilium auratum, commonly known as the gold band lily or the golden-rayed lily of Japan because of its origin and the wide gold band down the middle of the petals. The type and its variants have large bowl-shaped blossoms, some of them measuring ten inches and more across. The exotic white blossoms, delightfully fragrant, are spotted generously with yellow and crimson. Growers who specialize in lilies have produced some highly colored strains in vivid crimson colors. The planting of different types and forms provides a long blooming season. A well grown plant may reach a height of six feet and more and is spectacular when in full bloom. As with all lilies, this garden queen is at its best when given ample room in which to grow and breathe. Auratums show their resentment when they must rub elbows with close neighbors.

Some for the Shade

The August sun is hot. Lilium speciosum requires some protection from its hot rays or the leaves and blossoms bleach. Trees may provide this shade but they should not sap the moisture from the lilies. Mulch may be used to conserve moisture and to provide a cooler soil. Ground cover plants also help to keep soil temperatures down. The blossoms of Lilium speciosum variety rubrum have a white background but are so heavily suffused with pink and so thickly spotted with prominent crimson papillae (the raised “freckles”) that the effect is a lovely crimson color. Seedlings vary in color, the darker ones usually being the choicer. The reflexed segments have wavy edges. Other varieties have flowers of deep rose spotted with crimson, or with frilly white flowers flushed with pink which open earlier than most of the varieties.

Lilium speciosum album and L. speciosum Kraetzeri are truly garden gems. The former sports white flowers with frilly edged petals while the latter has a pale green stripe down the middle of the petals and the outside is tinged with green. You can find named varieties. Against a green background these white lilies make August pictures which are simply bewitching. Almost all the erect or cup-shaped lilies bloom in the spring but there is one for August.

The Tiger Lily

Lilium Sargentiae hybrids provide creamy-white trumpets for late July and early August. The outside of the segments are flushed with reddish brown, rose, or green. The old-fashioned tiger lily, Lilium tigrinum may open its first spotted orange blossoms in July and extend its blooming period on into August. It is such a well-known lily that a description is scarcely necessary. Even before it blooms, we recognize it by the bulblets (bulbils), dark in color, which form freely in the axils of the leaves. A double tiger lily, L. tigrinum variety flore-pleno a mutation first discovered in the 1870’s has been reintroduced. It grows four feet and more in height and is as spotted as the single type.

“Why do your regal lilies bloom so late?” a visitor asked one hot day in mid-August when tall stately Formolongi lilies displayed gorgeous white blossoms against an arbor-vitae back-ground. Perhaps they do appear similar to the casual observer, but regal lilies usually have yellow throats, or greenish-yellow, while the blossoms on Formolongi (supposed to be a cross between Lilium formosanum and L. longiflorum) have cool green throats.

If one wants to cut them for vases, it is wise to remove the stamens early in the morning just as the blossoms are opening and before the bees are about, and then cut them toward evening when the blossoms are fully open but before the sphinx moths go nectar hunting and soil the white petals with their wings. We can count on several strains of Lilium formosanum at this time, too. All these white trumpets are real treasures and give one a feeling of coolness even though temperatures may be at the wilting level for humans.

The waxy, rich green foliage of Lilium Henryi glistens and shines in the garden, but bleaches white in spots in full sun as do the nodding orange-colored flowers. A semi-shady location with protection from the hot midday sun is the solution. Some varieties have rather weak swaying stems. The tall stems have a heavy load to bear because they are topped by many horizontally spreading flower stems often with secondary buds. One should choose those with stiff stems. The reflexed petals of all varieties have numerous prominent papillae. L. Henryi has been a favorite of hybridizers.

by OR Tiemann

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