Introducing Tiger Lily

I recently joined our neighborhood's social networking site on Nextdoor.com.  Lost pet notifications are very important.  Suspicious activity?  It's good to be informed.  Mechanic recommendations, sure, good to know.  But a resource for plant swaps too?!  YES! 

Through our site, I have met a couple new gardening friends that live right down the street.  A nice lady that I had never met before, Judy, posted that she was giving away free tiger lilies one day.  I thought 'for real?'  Tiger Lilies have been on my get list for years, and now they have come right here to me?  Sure enough, I headed directly to my new friend's house (with an exchange gift in hand).  I was not a greedy gus; I only took two little 8 inch stalks.  I decided not to clip these babies.  I planted them immediately, and I watered them in well.  I do not like babying plants (over-tending kills more plants than neglect), so I got them started and let them go.  Viola!  My first ever Tiger Lily bloom opened about eight weeks later (around Independence Day).  Here she is! 

Her botanical name is Lilium lancifolium.  This mezmerizing flower blooms off of a 4 foot stalk and shows about 5 or 6 blooms per plant, this year.  The blooms are downward-facing, and the petals are bright orange, curled back, and covered with little brown conspicuous spots.  Only one of the stalks is revealing bulblets in the leaf axes so far, but I intend to harvest/plant some in a different location of the garden this year.  Tiger lilies are bulbs that spread via rhizomes, so I am looking forward to a larger clump of these exotic-looking beauties next year.

Thank you again to my new plant-swap friend Judy!  This was quite a gift.

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