My Carolina Lily (Lilium michauxxi) is blooming! I didn't notice it when it walked through the garden early this morning. The downward bloom and it's small size doesn't make it stand out from the background. Thank goodness for the Japanese beetles. If I hadn't gone back out to pick them off the roses, I might have missed this bloom altogether.
According to Plant Delights, "From West Virginia south to Florida and west to Texas, Lilium michauxii can be found growing in dry open woodlands and occasionally in bogs. The 4' tall stalks are adorned with fleshy green whorls of leaves. In early summer, the stalks are topped with large orange flowers. Each downward-facing recurved flower is orange toward the tips changing to cream near the center. The petals are also heavily spotted orange-brown. When the bulbs first flower, each stalk will only produce one or two flowers, but as the bulbs enlarge, it is possible to have as many as six flowers per stalk. Lilium michauxii makes a nice co
lony thanks to underground rhizomes."I was worried that the dry weather this summer would prevent a first year bloom, but true to it's native breeding, it survived. The pictures I've seen don't really do justice to this incredible bloom. No wonder it's such a popular traditional quilt pattern.
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