Lilium nepalense – Warning, acid soil - difficult

This is an ‘Asian’ lily. Lilium nepalense is a native of the southern slopes of the Himalaya, from Bhutan through Nepal to Uttarakhand. It can be found growing on wet forest borders at 1,200 to 3,000 m (3,900 to 9,800 ft).

This lily is unusual, expensive even as a wholesale bulb, and is lost to gardeners commonly for making no effort to provide it with the care it needs. It is different from the more common lilies.

The rules are:
1. Slightly acid soil (ericaceous), with 50% added grit
2. Cool feet, face in sun.
3. Well watered in spring prior to flowering
4. Stop watering after flowering and let it die back
5. Watch for the wandering bulb- stoloniferous walkabout bulb

In simple terms, plant it in ericaceous soil in a pot and take it into the greenhouse after it flowers in June/July and when the stem has died back, then leave it alone. This is supposedly only hardy to zone 5.

It is not a very attractive lily, has a disproportionately heavy down-facing flower, pendant from a short stem of maybe 30cms (24 inches), and probably should be staked. The flower is often solitary, pale lime green with a maroon throat, a combination not often seen. While I have seen photographs of a single stem of about five feet with several flowers, I have not experienced this in cultivation. The flowers are unscented during the day, but quite scented during the night. Makes it interesting for bringing it inside the house. May be pollinated by moths, bats, or some weird beetle, and maybe the flower has that nightime fluorescence the night stocks offer.

The flowers are down-facing, flared, and scented. The bulb is stoloniferous. It roves underground (a Houdini in a pot), producing many smaller bulbs on strings. Native to open scrub in the high mountains of Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, India, Myanmar (Burma), Tibet (Xizang), and Yunnan province in China. Height to 120 cm (4.5'). Lilium nepalense is Zone 5, but it abhors fall and winter wet. If that's likely to be a problem where you are, grow it outdoors under an overhang or in a frame or glasshouse. I have seen this done, but horizontal glass in a garden bed makes me nervous so I won't be doing that. I think all I will do is bring it inside the garden house for the winter, and lay it on its side.

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