new plant

Cardiocrinum giganteum

Common Name: 

Giant Himalayan Lily

Season: 

Spring

Summer

Location: 

Station 2 - Olmsted Drive

Station 9 - Tennis Court Green

Cardiocrinum giganteum, a lily relative from Western China, is always a show stopper in the garden. This photograph shows the plant in active growth. By June the plant has reached six to eight feet in height and the flowering commences. While the individual flowers are short lived, two to three weeks of bloom time is typical. The white flowers (maroon interior markings) are beautiful and fragrant. After pollination the petals fall off and the swelling ovary lengthens and turns upright from its formerly pendant position. The flower stalks age beautifully in the fall and on a dry day, the seed pods split open and shimmering drifts of delicate seed float down to the ground. This year, for the first time, we have some seedlings coming up. In another seven years these seedlings should flower and start the cycle over.