| Where the garden meets the wild | |
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CARDIOCRINUM GIANT LILY, CARDIOCRINUM Liliaceae (Lily family) 大百合属 Da bai he shu |
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| Bulbs Index Return to Plants Index | |
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Cardiocrinum giganteum in Sichuan. Photograph © Jan Mason Steeves |
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Cardiocrinums are worth the wait. A stand of them in flower in June-July, tall, wrapping you in
perfume, quieting your heart, is heaven. They take at
least 7 years to bloom from seed (often longer), and then they die. But. The mother
bulb leaves behind offsets that will bloom in a few years, and in the
meantime, the young bulbs' leaves are beautiful. The natural habitat of
these ancient lily cousins is a damp, shady slope, deep in leaf mould.
By convention there are 3 species of Cardiocrinum: cordatum, giganteum and cathayanum. Cathayanum, reputed to be the tenderest, has survived freezing here for several winters. If this contrariness persists we will offer it in years to come. |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Cardiocrinum
cordatum (Thunberg) Makino var. glehnii (Fr.
Schmidt) H. Hara. Japanese
giant lily.
オオウバユリ O-uba-yuri
(Japanese). This
fragrant plant
is native to Japan and to Sakhalin
Island in Russia. It is sometimes treated as a synonym of the more
widespread C. cordatum and sometimes treated as a separate species,
C. glehnii. Our bulbs are raised from Japanese seeds.
The leaves of many of them have bright red veins on emerging. By summer
the entire leaf is dark green. Height 1-2 m (3-6.5'). Zone 6, perhaps
colder.
Bulb, 4 years old (Fall shipping only). $15.00 |
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Photographs © Paige Woodward |
Cardiocrinum giganteum (Wallich) Makino var. giganteum. Giant lily. 大百合 Da bai he (Chinese). The Flora of China calls Chinese plants var. yunnanense and Himalayan ones var. giganteum, but they are very similar: majestic and powerfully fragrant. The flower of var. yunnanense is white with maroon streaks in the throat. Our photographs show it blooming on a damp slope in the Hengduan Mountains in Sichuan during one of our study-tours. The flower of var. giganteum, the one we grow, has the same streaks, possibly a little redder, in a trumpet that is greenish white toward the mouth. Recently we planted our entire stock ~ dozens of bulbs ~ in our woodland garden. Our lower photograph shows the leaves rising March 2008. But yes, we do plan to offer this treasure for sale again. Height to 3 m (10'). Zone 6, perhaps colder. Not available this season. |
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| This page was updated April 19, 2008. | |
