Description
Lilium auratum is a superb Lily and arguably the best one there is with very large, strongly scented flowers, the beauty of which has ensured that it has been widely used in breeding and its genes are incorporated into many commercial Oriental hybrids. The variety platyphyllum is characterised by having broader leaves and, perhaps as a result, a stronger constitution.
The stems reach from 1m right up to 2.5m in very strong plants. In July and August the upper part of the stem carries several, very large, white flowers with a heavy texture. These can reach 25cm across and up to 20 are recorded in the largest plants. These have a golden yellow radial mark on each petal and the background is dotted all over with small purple-red spots. The assertion that var. platyphyllum is always unspotted is not correct it can be unspotted or spotted and the spotting varies considerably within our stock raised from wild Japanese seed.
The scent is both overpowering and gorgeous.
It does well in neutral or slightly acid soil; this should have humus present and needs to be well-drained but avoid over-feeding, keep them lean! An ideal spot is a sunny one but one which has some shade during part of the day, or plant them with their bulbs in shade and their heads in sun. It is important to keep young plants coming on, either from seed or by scaling as this can be a short lived Lilium species, especially when it is coddled or over-fed. This is not just our plants by the way, it is a characteristic of the entire species and all of its forms, the only bad habit of a truly superb garden plant.
Endemic to the mountains of central Honshu, in Japan.
