A very interesting post, to which i can't contribute a lot. I have seeds for this lilium, which i hope will germinate for me.
My only comment is that I thought most liliums prefer a slightly acidic soil. Perhaps a feed of camelia and azalea food would help.
What you describe does sound a bit like virus. Plants don't always die from virus though.
Good luck with your specimen.
Cheers, Jan

Happy New Year, Jan!!!

And to a Happy New Year to everyone else here!

Regarding the soil pH for this lily: yes, you are absolutely right in that most lilies prefer acidic-neutral soils. Lilium candidum, however, being a native of the chalky hillslopes of the Balkans and Greece, is an avid lime-lover.

I know I'm panicking here, and it's most probably a case of leaves being scorched by the sun, but then the yellowish streaks are a worry to me - no distortion on them mind you, and the streaks appeared after the purple margins.

You say that you have the seeds for this lily, Jan. That is truly amazing considering how rare this species is here in Australia. Can I ask you where you obtained them from? I'd love to get my hands on the seeds, especially the wild variety, Lilium candidum var. salonikae.

Just as a note with the seed raising of this species: it'll take a few years before it reaches flowering size, and it loves lime - lots of it.

Regards,

Ilijasx.

Hi Ilijasx (whatever where your parents thinking of :-)
My seed came from 2 different sources, but probably originated from the same person. I don't know who that would be. Mine is from the Australian Bulb Society, who have a twice yearly seed distribution.
as an aside, If you are interested, I still have a little Lilium wallichianum seed to spare, collected from mine last year. They don't seem to have come back from the bulbs, but I have around 100 baby seedlings, so the seed is healthy. E-mail me ofline if you are interested, and I will send it for an SSAE.
Cheers, Jan

Hah, Jan! My name! It's all fake! An alias that I've assumed after going into the witness protection program ;^)

I've got a really tiny garden which I'm dedicating to only a couple of Liliums, and L.candidum is definitely one of them, but L. longiflorum definitely not - I find it a tad boring as far as lilies go. The reason for this is the spread of virus if I get too many types of lilies, that's all. If it were up to me I'd have rows of the damn things encircling my house.

Thank you for the offer of the L.wallachium seeds. I may give it a miss, though, as I'm not very experienced in raising lilies from seed. I know that L.regale is dead easy, however, so if you have a few seeds to spare (and I only have room for about 5 of the plants in my garden anyway!) I'd appreciate it greatly.

I've been astonished at how rare are the lilies that have traditionally been so popular, and this is definitely the case with L.regale.

Oh, I found a great website that has got loads of great Lilium seeds:

http://www.rareplants.de/plants/seeds/bulbs_and_corms_k_o.htm.

Thank you in advance,

Ilijasx.

Hello Jan & Ilijasx?
I couldn't resist joining in. I have some candidiums that came from the garden of an old cottage in Daylesford that my daughter is currently renting. I offered to help her with the garden and accidently (!!) dug up some bulbs. I bought them home to Ballarat and planted them. They flowered really well the first year. This year they didn't do too well. I thought it may have been the drought, but thanks to you both I now know that I have them planted too deep and the soil is wrong. As they are now dormant I will lift them this weekend and replant properly this time.
I have lots of liliums, especially white Asiatics which really brighten up my garden. I have lots of babies of these, some I have raised from scales. If you want any please let me know. I also have quite a few L.formosanum & L.longiflorum which are beautiful(really tall). I intend to harvest seeds from them this year and try to propogate more.
Cheers Kerry.

Have had my modonna lilies for around 15-16 years need to move them to another location morning sun from the east afternoon from the west and suggestions??

My experience with L. candidum falls in with the above comments. As a 12 yo I was fascinated by this lily with its rosette during winter which suddenly burst forth in spring. Unfortunately the plants I watched belonged to an old lady across the street. Eventually I asked her for one and she gave me a bulb. In my ignorance I rushed home and planted it - just under the soil level. It grew very well for years. I was also lucky as the part of country Victoria I lived in was heavy clay soil with a high pH. I too never heard of this lily for many years. I discovered a source of seed at chilternseeds.co.uk They were happy to sell me some and they arrived safely through the legitimate channel. They are quite easy to manage. They are immediate epigeal and these seed I obtained had a high rate of success. They can be sown at any time of the year theoretically though don't try in summer. If sown in August they will put up a flower a bit over 2 years later. Better the following year. Mine have finished this year and all have many fat pods. I took no care with them when in flower. So do I have new seed 100% L. candidum? Or is it likely to be contaminated? Some lilium species breed true.... not sure about this one though.