I have finally had a Martagon Lily overwinter successfully, after several tries. This 'Guinea Gold' cultivar was planted using all the "wrong" techniques. I bought a sad shriveled up dead-looking tuber from a vendor at the end of a plant sale last June. It was the last one in a box, and I negotiated a price of $2 for it because it looked so bad. However the seller said it was likely to be fine. I stuck it in unimproved clay soil, on the east side of a hedge. It never sprouted last year, confirming the tale that they sometimes "take a year off" when planted. Now it is a foot tall, bushy and in perfect health! My prior attempts were made using better technique. Who knows what was different this time.
