Sue Milliken & Kelly Dodson invited me out to their nursery, Far Reaches Farm, last week to photograph their Cardiocrinum giganteum var. yunnanense, the giant Himalayan
lily, in full bloom. If you are not familiar with these towering, 15 feet tall beauties, they grow in shady woodland gardens and blossom up and down their floriferous tall stalks with many large, white, highly fragrant, lily flowers with streaks of burgundy in their throats. Once they flower, the plant dies—monocarpic plants. Offsets of bulbs will grow on to flower in a few years. Grown from seed, the plant will bloom in seven years. Planting seeds are an investment in the future!
Nevertheless, the main reason I drove up to Port Townsend in Washington State, where the nursery resides, is that one of their towering lilies was blooming pretty in pink, a pleasant surprise for Kelly and Sue, who carefully selected their seed from the best plants. They are planning to propagate this one, but we won’t be seeing it offered for a few more years. Here’s a sneak preview of these unusual pink flowers, which I hope will be available in the not too distant future.
And now for the pink one:
I have always wanted one of these for my garden. I wonder how they take southern heat and humidity - any clues?
Posted by: Les | July 06, 2008 at 04:01 AM
Taking so long to bloom makes the occasion more thrilling. I would love to have something like that in my woodland garden. I love a garden with tall things. It gives a feeling of being totally immersed in flora.
Donna
Posted by: Donna Black | July 06, 2008 at 08:04 AM
Nice pink with green ribbing through the middle.
But I do like the original. The taller the better in my opinion. I agree with you, Donna, about being immersed in flora.
Posted by: JeanneK | July 09, 2008 at 12:44 PM
OH my god, those are amazing. I am a gardener in Seattle. Love your site(s)
Are the lilies hardy here?
Posted by: sally anne sadler | October 21, 2008 at 04:26 PM
OH Jesus !!!! what the hell is that plant!!!!
Posted by: Gardening Seeds | March 07, 2009 at 06:53 PM
you have a very beautiful and unusual plant.You also captured it nice specially the second one.
seth
Posted by: flower shop in the Philippines | August 26, 2009 at 08:49 PM