Lilium candidum; a beautiful Mediterranean lily which is usually regarded as hard lily to grow and maintain due to many reasons. I do not completely agree with that statement and that is why I decided to write a guide for growing this beauty. I know many of you are well aware how to grow it, but this guide is mainly for new growers who are not aware of it's specific needs and also for experienced growers who don't have luck with this species. Yes, it's true that you need some climate specific things in order for this species to thrive, but if you don't have it you can still flower it and keep it alive for many years if you are following this growing instructions. How? Let's start from the beginning.
Candidum is special lily due to 2 things: 1. It forms bulbs at ground level and
2. grows a basal rosette of leaves during winter.
This means two important things: 1. when planting, 2-3 cm of soil above the bulb (5 cm max) is enough. Many make a mistake in the beginning and plant the bulb very deep, which results in the absence of leaves and stems, which results in the weakening and decay of the bulb due to the lack of green mass that feeds it.
2. Air circulation is a very important thing because
candidum is susceptible to botrytis. It is very important that the leaves dry as soon as possible after the rain.
Now we have solved these 2 things. The third thing is equally important and is called drainage.
L. candidum needs perfect drainage. The water must go away as soon as possible. Adding sand and stones to the soil will help. If you have clay soil you should grow candidum in a pot in specially prepared soil. Speaking about soil, it's very important that you don't add any humus or peat. This will cause bulb to rot.
Candidum loves poor dry soil with neutral or alkaline pH.
Photo 1: The type of soil that candidum likes. It looks like dust.
Photo 2: Candidum bulbs. If they like their place they will grow very big in short time and weight more than a kilogram.
Candidum bulbs are very fragile (especially big ones) so you need to hold and plant them carefully. The scales can easily break BUT do not throw them in the garbage.
Candidum can easily be multiply by scales. Outer scales usually fall off naturaly and create new bulbs but also new bulb can emerge from any scale.
Photo 3: New bulb is growing from scale.
Moist mild winters and hot dry summers. This is what
candidum prefers. For many growers the summer part is the problematic thing (in Scotland for example) because they have moist summers with a lot of rains. I didn't find any problem with rain during growing period (as long as drainage and air circulation is perfect) BUT during and especially after flowering
L. candidum need to have dry soil. If your summers are really wet you should cover your
candidum and protect it against excessive water. After flowering they have 2-3 months of dormant period and dry soil should be imperative. During this time you can relocate them if you want but they don't like to move often. If you find the place they like leave them alone for longer period of time (until they get overcrowded). They thrive on neglect and the only thing you should check daily is aphids. They can transmit virus and
candidum is suspectible to it and not resistant so you should plant them away from hybrids.
You don't need to water them no matter where you live. They can survive whole summer without a water. Less water means better plants in this case.
I hope I helped. If you have any questions ask.
