Here's an image and more information from Floridata. I guess it is also called Malvaviscus penduliflorus. I'm going to experiment with sowing the seeds when I get a chance and post my results. Here is a link that might be useful: picture of Turk's Cap Hibiscus

Hi George, Since L. Superbum is stoloniferous you can't do much about their tendancy to "wander". I have mostly orientals and trumpets which wander some but not like a stoloniferous lily does. So, here are some ideas - uninformed by actual experience on my part! :) You could use small shrubs to separate your garden areas rather than rocks. Azaleas would provide spring color, have the same pH requirements as Superbum, and any wandering Superbum could grow up through them (since it's a tall lily). If you are very fond of having rocks, you could get bigger rocks that can be partially submerged (by 10"-12"). If small boulders aren't a good option for you, you could try placing underground obstructions (such as pavers oriented vertically) between the lilies and your current rocks and see if you could head the stems off before they get underneath. However, depending upon the number and location of the rocks and the size of your garden this could be a LOT of work. (I'm lazy, I'd just get rid of the rocks!) I'm growing some L.Lankongenese from seed that I'll be planting outside soon. They are also stoloniferous. I'll be planting them next to a garage foundation (so they'll only be able to grow sideways or out). Hopefully they won't grow so far out that they exceed my bed and come up in the yard! If so, I might be trying the "vertical paver" option myself. Or maybe I'll get rid of my lawn! If you find a solution that works for you, please re-post so we can learn from your experience. Good Luck, Helen

I'm wondering if what you have are the bulbils from Lilium Tigrinum rather than Superbum. Superbum's native Habitat: wet meadows and woodlands with moist but well drained soil  Height: 3-7 feet  Flower size: 2-1/2 inches across  Flower color: orange  Flowering time: July to September  Origin: native The Turk's-cap lily flowers have a green star at the center which makes a good identifying mark for this plant. The green star will distinguish L. Superbum which is a native plant from L. trigrinum originally from Asia. L. Tigrinum flowers are Turk's cap shape, deepy recurved and downward facing. Primarily spotted orange, but do come in other colors - yellow, cream, white, pale lavender, peach, and mahogany. In any case, planting them is fine - the bulbils are naturally falling around the parent plants now and all they really need is contact with the ground. Their tiny root shoot will pull them down into the soil to the depth they want to be. Since you planted yours, I'd suggest you install a marker since they look like blades of grass the first season - easy to forget and mistakingly pull them up or dig and plant over them. If they are, indeed, L. Tigrinum, expect 100% germination rate and at least three growing seasons to reach blooming size. Not sure about the L. Superbums.

I don't know about the pain, but patience is certainly required. The first year (after the relatively easy stratification process) all you get is one leaf. The second year is 2 - 3 leaves. The third year they begin to look like plants. Right now they are about 5 inches high, but the year is young. I did notice that an interesting phenomenom had occurred when I was potting a few up last week to donate to the local Wild-Ones native plant sale. While digging them, I noticed that many had grown a large horizontal rhizome from the bulb. The rhizome ended in a slightly smaller bulb and a slightly smaller plant. Each spring when I looked at these plants I always had the feeling that they were doing very well. They are randomly planted in a group, so it had never occurred to me to count them. I hadn't realized that they were increasing in number as well as size. No wonder they looked like they were doing so well! These plants are Lilium michiganense (Michigan Lily). Although L. canadense, L. michiganense and L. superbum are very similiar in many ways, I have only seen this horizontal rhizome occurs in L. michiganense. I was even surprised to see it at all, since the vast majority of the plants that I see in the wild are scattered single plants.