Apparently someone added some new spam to an OLD thread (which has obviously been removed.) Wow, I mean old. Glad the spam's removed, and how cool to see such an old discussion still kicking around. It's even formatted differently. (Putting a fake email addy so this post doesn't cause me to get MORE spam.) My favorite lilies are Lycoris and the Asiatics, like Stargazer.

I have an extremely eager Madonna Lily. It has 6 good sized shoots that started growing in early January. This lily seems very resistant to cold. For two years now, it has sprouted in early January. I gave it slight protection by leaning an old window in front of it to keep it a few degrees warmer at night during our February cold spell. It is likely that the protection wasn't needed, however. I hope it sets seed this year. Even if it doesn't, I will probably dig up the clump in summer since the bulbs have been pushing out of the ground as they grow larger. The clump is seemingly very pleased with its south wall of house location. I believe I am in zone 7b, in extreme southern New Jersey.

Hi Reilly, You can buy it from The Lily Garden now. They also have other immediate epigeal seed for sale (Lankongense, Pumilum, and Regale and possible others). Also the North American Lily Society (NALS) has their seed sale in the spring - and toward the end of the sale makes seed available to non-members. My L. Candidum were grown from NALS seed which had "Cascade" strain available that year. My lilies have some ripening seed pods now. Botrytis got many of them. Unfortunately Candidum, while virus resistant (hence it may be a virus carrier) is fungus susceptible and I didn't get to them fast enough with my antifungal spray. But each pod produces a lot of seed so while I will donate most of them to the NALS sale I'm sure I can spare some in a month or so when they are done ripening. There is no reason you can't start them now in pots and bring them inside during the winter so they can get a super long first season. I accidentally did that last September when seed pods I brought inside after a rain got warm for too long and germinated. I potted them up and waited to put them outside until the following spring and they are still on my porch going strong. My e-mail link on "My Page" is active so feel free to contact me. -Helen

Thanks, and I hope so! I read that madonna lilies can't be grown further south than zone 7, and even though I am north of atlanta, the climate has changed from the original map to a zone 8. It seems like no one really knows, so I guess it'll have to be trial and error. :)