Along with the earliest of the "Early and Easy" lilies, blooms an entirely different group called the martagons or martagon hansonii hybrids.
The martagon grows up to 7 feet tall and can carry up to 50 flowers. When established in a garden they clump up impressively. The bulb splits up every other year and will give you a showy display in your garden. Some bulbs survived the severe winters in northern Alberta, Canada for more then 40 years.
The colours
The martagon lily comes in a wide variety of colors, from white, orange, maroon, yellow and black. One of the species L. Martagon Album is a pure white and used widely for propagation. The only black one known is called Black Prince and hard to find these days. The most well known hybrids are R.O.B. Backhouse and the Paisley Hybrids string.
Soil conditions
These majestic lilies thrive well in heavy clay and loam but do remarkably well in sandy soils. The love shady places but can handle full sun as well.
Propagation
Propagation from seed to get a flowering martagon takes up to seven years. Bulbs can be divided in the fall when the plant goes dormant. Scaling is a very good option and should be done directly after flowering.
Availability
For a long time only lily fanatics where interested in the martagons. The innovation of the Asiatic lily made people forget about the martagon. But the last couple of years the requests for martagon lilies are increasing rapidly. Our nursery preserved a wide variety of species and the first hybrids. By now we have a collection of over a 100 named varieties. We grow them; we propagate them, and preserve them. Some of the varieties we have wholesale quantities some are only available in retail; some are not for sale yet.
If you want to find out more about our collection or see more pictures visit our web site or send us e-mail
