Most new gardeners are afraid of shade. Actually, many seasoned gardeners are not all that fussy about it either.
The big complaint I hear is that "nothing grows in shade," or that "nothing nice grows in shade." That couldn't be further than the truth. My favourite gardens are shade gardens. There are all kinds of flowers, both annual and perennial, that grow in shade, and I would like to add the martagon lily to that list.
Martagon lilies are made up of five lily species, Lilium martagon, L. hansonii, L. tsingtauense, L. medeoloides and L. distichum. Collectively, this group of five species has the widest natural distribution of any of the divisions of the genus Lilium, and all originally came from the northern temperate zone.
This makes them eminently suitable lilies to grow in Manitoba's 2b-3 hardiness zones, and most martagon lilies are hybrids of one or more of these species.
Some of my favourites are the very dark red, almost-black Sarcee, the bright orange Brunswick, white Bornholm, cream-coloured Helsinki, yellow Charlene, pink Raspberry Delight and very pale pink Ivory Gem. My all-time favourite is L. martagon var. Cattaniae.
Martagon lilies are the first lilies to come up in the spring, and this can lead to a great deal of angst when there may still be frosts in the forecast. This also means that they are the first lilies to bloom in the summer, generally the first week of July.
The martagon lilies available for sale (and there are precious few available) are not inexpensive. A named cultivar can cost between $25 and $40. The reason they are so expensive is that it takes an average of five to seven years to get a martagon bulb from seed to flower. The wait, however, is well worth it.
Martagon lilies have a uniquely whorled leaf structure, and may grow up to five or six feet tall, with perhaps 50 or more flowers on one stem, if grown properly. L. m. var. cattaniae, for one, can have a stem thicker than a broomstick.
Martagon lilies can be grown in full sun, although the flowers will sometimes bleach out if the sunlight is too strong, but unlike most lilies, martagons also thrive in almost full shade. I have planted mine along the driveway, under a row of Siberian elms between two houses. Very little sun comes into those beds, where I also grow ferns, heucheras, thalictrums, hostas, hellebores and the obligatory impatiens. I also grow them in a cold damp bed facing north.
Martagon lilies come in all colours of the rainbow, except blue. They have a tall, statuesque, architectural structure -- a stand of flowering martagons will stop people in their tracks. Most gardeners unfamiliar with lilies will ask "What are they?", and the next question is invariably, "Where can I get one?" Luckily, the Manitoba Regional Lily Society (MRLS) brings in a fairly substantial number of martagon bulbs for its Fall Bulb Sale. Some are named cultivars and others are unnamed seedlings from various lily hybridizers.
Don't let the word "seedling" fool you. A seedling is not a small, immature bulb. A seedling is an unnamed hybrid, and the bulb can sometimes be the size of a softball. The named cultivars are more expensive than the unnamed seedlings, which sell for about $10 a bulb.
Martagon bulbs increase over the years and in most cases, a clump can remain undisturbed for at least 10 years. There are a few martagons that increase more quickly, but that means that the clump must be dug and the bulbs separated when growth and flowering decrease. As I don't particularly care to disturb the perennial beds in which my martagon lilies grow, the slow increase is definitely a plus.
There are generally three annual lily shows put on by the MRLS -- the early Martagon show at the beginning of July, the Winnipeg lily show and the Neepawa lily show, which is held in conjunction with the Neepawa Lily Festival. This year, however, there will not be a dedicated martagon show. Instead, MRLS is putting on a show today at Kildonan Place Mall, which will encompass both the martagon and the annual lily shows. Gardeners who want enter their martagon stems may doe so in either show. The Neepawa show encompasses all lilies, though there are few martagons that flower any later than mid-July.
There are a number of specialist lily nurseries in Canada that sell martagon lilies and in Manitoba we're fortunate to have The Lily Nook in Neepawa, which specializes in them. If you're interested in learning more about martagon lilies, I invite you to attend the show in Winnipeg. Bring your notebook with you -- you may need it!
Sandy Venton is secretary of the Manitoba Regional Lily Society, recording secretary of the North American Lily Society, a North American lily judge and an obsessive-compulsive grower and collector of martagon lilies, which are her passion.
