Lily Regal

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Lily regal - flower culture; perennial herb belonging to the Liliaceae family, from the genus Lilies. In natural conditions, the lily is an adherent of coastal areas and rocky slopes. The presented species can be attributed to endemic plants growing along the banks of the Minjiang River, which flows in the central part of Sichuan province. Among the people, the type of lily in question is often called Chinese, royal, Tibetan, and in Latin its name sounds like this: Lilium regale. The flower culture was first discovered in 1903 by the Anglo-American botanist and rare plant hunter Ernest Henry Wilson in the Sichuan province, located in the south of central China.

Characteristics of culture

The regal lily is represented by a perennial bulbous plant, which forms a thin, but rather strong peduncle in the process of growth, more than 1 meter in height, dark green in color. The stem is densely endowed with numerous narrow, linear, fleshy, green, alternately arranged leaves, which can reach 18 centimeters in length. The flowers are large, in an adult plant, the size can vary from 10 to 15 centimeters in diameter, collected in racemose inflorescences from 5 to 20 pieces each.

The perianth petals are folded in the form of a funnel and have a very colorful color. The center of the inflorescence has a bright yellow color, which, closer to the edges of the petals, gradually flows into a pure white shade, the outer side of the petals is usually pale pink with crimson veins. The pale green stigma is surrounded by a bundle of filaments with bright orange anthers.

The fruit is presented in the form of an oval dark green box filled with black seeds in the shape of an irregular triangle. The regal lily bulbs are large enough, their size can exceed 15 centimeters in diameter, have a round or conical shape, completely covered with numerous leathery white plates. The presented culture blooms very abundantly and colorfully, this period begins in the second decade of July and lasts for 20 days.

Cultivation conditions

There is nothing difficult in caring for a regal lily. For all its decorativeness, the flower culture does not require supernatural care and attention. If the place for planting and the composition of the soil are as close as possible to the natural growing conditions of the plant, then further care can be reduced to regular watering, top dressing and periodic loosening.

The presented flower culture is very sun-loving, therefore, when choosing a place for planting a regal lily, you need to pay special attention to its illumination, without a sufficient amount of sunlight, the plant does not bloom and soon dies. Also, when choosing a place, you need to pay attention to the direction of rainwater flow and spring melting of snow, water should not accumulate in the area with lilies, otherwise the plant bulbs will begin to rot.

The soil for lilies is best suited for light, loose, fertile with a neutral level of acidity. The plant does not tolerate strongly acidic soils, therefore it is advisable to test the pH level in advance, before planting the plant.

The soil for planting plants must be prepared in advance, dug up, soaked with organic fertilizers and allowed to settle for a couple of weeks. Fertilizers are applied in moderation, otherwise the plant will start to grow actively at the expense of the full formation of bulbs, which threatens with many diseases and weakening its resistance to cold in winter.

Subject to the above recommendations regarding the location of the beds and the quality of the soil, the regal lily can grow in one place from four to six years. After this time, the plant will exhaust all the reserves of nutrients in the soil and it will need to be transplanted to a new place.