Lilium bulbiferum
L.
Fire Lily, Orange lily
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Description
Lilium bulbiferum is a BULB growing to 1.2 m (4ft). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 7. It is in flower from June to July, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Bees. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.
Edible Uses
Bulb - cooked. Sweet and mealy, they make very fair eating and can be used as a potato substitute.
Distribution
Eastern Central Europe.
Where It Grows
EUROPE: Czechoslovakia, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Former Yugoslavia, Italy, Spain, France (incl. Corsica)
Cultivation
Prefers an open free-draining humus-rich loamy soil with its roots in the shade and its head in the sun. Succeeds in ordinary garden soil and in calcareous soils. Prefers summer shade. Stem rooting, the bulbs should be planted 15cm deep. Early to mid autumn is the best time to plant out the bulbs in cool temperate areas, in warmer areas they can be planted out as late as late autumn. This is one of the easiest lilies to grow, it is cultivated for its edible bulb in Japan. The plant should be protected against slugs in early spring. If the shoot tip is eaten out the bulb will not grow in that year and will lose vigour. The typical form of this species forms bulbils on its stems. The sub-species L. bulbiferum croceum does not normally produce bulbils.
Propagation
Seed - delayed hypogeal germination. Best sown as soon as ripe in a cold frame, it should germinate in spring. Stored seed will require a warm/cold/warm cycle of stratification, each period being about 2 months long. Grow on in cool shady conditions. Great care should be taken in pricking out the young seedlings, many people leave them in the seed pot until they die down at the end of their second years growth. This necessitates sowing the seed thinly and using a reasonably fertile sowing medium. The plants will also require regular feeding when in growth. Divide the young bulbs when they are dormant, putting 2 - 3 in each pot, and grow them on for at least another year before planting them out into their permanent positions when the plants are dormant. Division with care in the autumn once the leaves have died down. Replant immediately. Bulbils - gather in late summer when they start to fall off the stems and pot up immediately. Grow on in a greenhouse until large enough to go outside. Bulb scales can be removed from the bulbs in early autumn. If they are kept in a warm dark place in a bag of moist peat, they will produce bulblets. These bulblets can be potted up and grown on in the greenhouse until they are large enough to plant out.
