The formosanum lily, when well-grown, is one of the most highly appreciated of our hardy garden lilies.
Its graceful, trumpet like flower is sometimes pure white but more often shaded with pink.
Delightfully fragrant, it blossoms late in August, September, and even October. I have found that almost every bulb planted, either in the fall or the spring, will flower during the first growing season.
I know it is the only lily that will blossom from one-year bulbs. The ability to make a good showing in the garden the first year and the fact that seedling bulbs are grown in isolation and with minimal handling.
Growing Lilies
These are practically free from disease, making young L. formosanum bulbs excellent stock for starting in home gardens.
To grow this lily successfully, choose a well-drained spot where water does not stand after ruins and, if possible, a spot where lilies have not grown before.
This will ensure protection from soil-borne diseases remaining over from old bulbs. Lilies do best in deep, fertile soil.
If improvement is needed, spread a mixture of sand, peat moss, or compost and a liberal dressing of a good garden fertilizer, such as a 5-10-10 mixture, upon the bed and dig it into the depth of one spade.
In planting, space the bulbs individually 12” to 15” inches apart and arrange them in groups for attractive effects.
If one-year bulbs are being planted, these should be covered only three or four inches; the larger bulbs can be covered 5” to 6” inches.
First Growing Season
After planting, spread an inch of peat or compost over the soil surface. Mulching for lilies is always better than cultivating and saves work keeping down weeds.
Add a little more soil over the one-year bulbs at the end of the first growing season. As soon as the flowers have gone by, the seed pods should be removed as they form.
The formosanum lily has the habit of setting many large seed pods, and, in its effort to mature this heavy seeding late in the season, it invariably starves the mother bulb. The removal of seed pods adds many years of life to it.
44659 by William H. Wolff