Lilium Seeds | Lily Garden
LATIN NAME: Lilium
COMMON NAME: Lily
Plant Profile
Lily (Lilium) is a herb in the lily family. Lily trumpets six-petalled flowers along tall, erect stems, narrow leaves below them, and the whole plant carries the fine, stately look of the sunny border. It is a plant of open, sunny, deep, rich, moist, well-drained ground. The flowers pull in pollinating insects, which quietly widens its usefulness in the garden. Plants that offer this much while asking this little are rare enough to treasure.
Science & Biotechnology
Seed science, comparative botany and horticultural selection all touch on Lilium, a representative of the lily family with clear practical value. It is the kind of species that plant scientists reach for when they need reliable material for propagation and selection studies.
Uses & Benefits
Beyond its ornamental appeal, Lily has the practical versatility that makes a plant worth growing from seed year after year. Lily is a stately, useful plant of sunny border and study collection. It is a stately, useful plant of open, sunny, deep, rich, moist, well-drained garden. Lily seeds prefer a leafy, gritty mix kept moist in a bright, cool place. Once it has settled, the workload drops to almost nothing.
Lily bulbs, Bai He, are a classical Chinese herb and food for calming the spirit and moistening dry coughs, sold in soups and desserts across East Asia; the ornamental lilies that share the genus are strictly for the garden, as true lilies are deadly to cats.
Growing from Seed
Raising Lily from seed is straightforward. Broadcast the seed thinly over a fine, free-draining compost, sieve a little more compost on top, and water with a fine rose. Shift the seedlings into small pots as soon as they can be handled, and give them bright light until planting-out time.
Our Take
Once established, Lily largely looks after itself. In a sunny, freely drained position it needs little looking after.
Related Reading
More species in the same orbit as Lily: