Yesterday Mapira was the first to open for me:



It's a tall asiatic and very dark. The colour of the open bloom is lovely... but I find the younger buds rather unappealing. Admittedly with only three buds it could be hard to tell; but an umbel, with short pedicels? Doesn't look promising either. Maybe it grows out into a nice infloresence when it's established?

I'm picky. I like my lilies with long, well-placed pedicels and gorgeous buds.

But hooray! Lily season is here!!!

My pollen fingers are itchy

Today this elegant creature surprised me:



It came by the name of L. cernuum album, but I hadn't seen such cream and pink flushed tips on any of the photographs of it. Obviously it is L. cernuum, and a little searching found other photos out there of similar colour variants bearing the 'album' epithet. So I guess there's a range of colouration that goes by the name. And I love it. It is absolutely sublime

Fully open a little later this morning:



Obviously I can't help myself and keep taking pics

Almost forgot - Yellow Cocotte is on the way too:



Anthony - what's out over Rosetta way?

dellac said:
My pollen fingers are itchy

I hear you there! Today I started cutting down my deadest lily stalks.

I love the dry seed-filled pods of autumn, but maybe that phase has well passed if you're up to dead-stalking. We'll be sure to share lots of summer pics to keep the seeding daydreams burning!

Well, Well. The moment we've been waiting for. Love the l. cernuum album. I planted one a few years ago and lost it the first winter.

Come on, Della...come on, Della!
Nice take off.

Your lily photos are inspiring!
Thanks for sharing with us who are experiencing snow and winter.

Love the color on these blooms, but I especially like that first one.

Ah, a new season! Thank you for those beautiful colors.

I like the second pics ~ it's so lovely.

Gotta love those pedicels!
They add such grace to the inflorescence.

It is seemingly odd that an alba form would have so much coloring. However, I think L. cernuum might be an exception. "Alba" is usually reserved for whites only, but L. cernuum seems to possess some very interestingly unique color genes, so the general rule could be hard to apply. I'd much prefer yours, Della, over any of the all white form.

We can all tell you are beaming with pride, and it's well deserved.

I am at that!

Thanks everyone. It's so exciting. L. cernuum album has been one of those dream-of plants; "if I ever find it and bloom it, my life will be complete". It happened so soon! Now I'm thinking... "if I can just bloom seedlings from L. cernuum album my life will be complete"!

You can bet I'm going to busy with these 'unique color genes' this summer!

Lorn, I was so fussy with this bulb. It took off quickly, but a few weeks after I potted it there was a surprising big (for us) freeze just as the growing tip was at the surface. It continued to grow. I was so anxious it would turn to brown mush... but then I started to fret that the potting mix was holding too much water (needs super fast drainage), so I unpotted and repotted it in 50:50 original mix and sharp sand when the shoot was just a couple of inches high. It was then I noticed the second shoot - still white and some way from the surface. I'd planted a single-nosed bulb (same one as posted in the species bulbs thread), so I was really surprised. I wondered if my interfering would set it back...

The first stem grew happily on as though nothing had happened until it suddenly stopped short and blind. Guess the freeze had killed the buds. But then the second stem that had been just hanging around like a puppy at the feet of the first, took off, zoomed past it and produced these wonderful flowers.

Is it possible this mountain lily is adapted to losing an early stem's flowering capability and responds to cold damage by producing a second, later stem? Such an intriguing species!!

Rick will answer your question I'm sure; but in the meantime--I have a question. Was your bulb real solid and firm when you got it, or did it have a softer somewhat dehydrated feel to it. Mine felt a little different and I was wondering if that was characteristic. The picture that was sent with my bulb looks exactly the same as yours. Really a beautiful example. I just wish mine would have lived. You're very fortunate!

Not to be confused with tight and loose bulbs, the cause of firm and soft lily bulbs is the degree of hydration (assuming the absence of disease which should be easily discernible). In all the different Lilium species I've dealt with, this has held true. (And you all know that I am one who inspects my bulbs! )

Regarding your comment, Della, that you had planted a single nose bulb, yet when unpotted you found a second stem:
Some Asian lilies (ex: L. formosanum) do possess a latent capability to produce new shoots from the bulb without vernalization. (This is the aim of the Lilium x formolongi breeding that will soon be emerging in the trade.) But for a shoot so strong to initiate and grow so quickly is quite improbable. I think more likely, your L. cernuum had already initiated a new bulb within the mother bulb that was not detectable when you planted it. This baby bulb inside (and enclosed by the mother bulb scales) may have begun the previous season or even the season before. I have seen this happen with L. martagon and L. szovitsianum. If indeed the blindness of the first stem was environmentally caused, it could have spurred on growth of the baby bulb, growth that may have otherwise remained dormant for yet another year.

dellac said:Is it possible this mountain lily is adapted to losing an early stem's flowering capability and responds to cold damage by producing a second, later stem? Such an intriguing species!!

In the plant world nearly anything is possible. But in your case, Della, your theory is high improbable. Much more probable, and in fact, likely, is that the second stem was already there (as previously mentioned) and acting like a puppy due to the set back of uprooting and shipment. That shoot probably would have remained a pup due to the lack of sufficient supporting root system due to shipping, but since the first shoot growth was stopped, the available vigor was transferred to the pup. There is some discussion among lily experts whether lily buds are always preprogrammed in the bulb the season before or if it can be influenced in the same season as the bloom fruition. Since this second shoot was undetectable (and relatively undeveloped) when you first planted, I suspect the latter is the case with your L. cernuum album.

More to say about L. cernuum floral color expression. See post #14 here:
The thread "Lily Genetics" in Lilies forum

First bloom here on Wednesday was 'Purple Diamond', but ,it and a 'Brindisi' was scooped up by a nurse at the 'Vetinary Clinic'.Mapira by Sunday ,"I reckon''..I was shown a 'Cernuum Album' bloom in NSW, last week, so, Della, we are not far behind ..It is like a Borneo Jungle here with liliums, and the beautiful smells of spring are rich in the air...I love it!.. The x Dalhansonii is bulging at the seams and promises to be brilliant...So much, and I have been under the pump for a few weeks, really busy at work, ant attack on my 'little chickies ' birdcage,....Re-union tomorrow[Mitsubishi Motors] and have to 'prep' the Ol truck ,ready for lily sales...

Yay

Lilies all over soon, Anthony! Hope the work slows up just a bit, so you can enjoy.

Lorn, the bulb was well hydrated - very fresh, Short transit time. But from memory the scales are not as rigid as many are. Not as thick and 'starchy' but thin, very well overlapped and tightly packed. And I do feel very fortunate!

Rick, your explanation makes sense. Thanks

It gets better!- The grapevine just advised me, that'possibly', the creator of 'Starburst Sensation', will be here for our January lilium show..

Oh! (Now I better find out who that is! )

We need some more pics! Different perspectives of Yellow Cocotte:



and Mapira:



And because I didn't mention her absolutely beautiful perfume, but can't upload scent:



And lastly... these buds have been teasing me for days! When will they finally open?



(Beautiful buds!)