Pretty Black Beauty

Not the horse, but the Black Beauty lily.

And this one is as tall and strong as a horse, sometimes reaching almost 7 foot in our garden. The flowers are "re-curved" or backward facing and bloom for several weeks.




The only thing you can hold against it is the lack of fragrance, but the plant is spectacular. A number of years ago, we took the ferry to Bainbridge Island and drove 101 toward Pt. Townsend to visit a famous mail order lily farm called B&D. They have an excellent website, and still ship all over the world:
http://www.lilybulb.com/

I think were were there in late summer, and was really interesting to see lilies grown in an agricultural setting, instead of the babied garden flowers we're used to seeing. I remember the fields were rough and dry, but with magnificent plants scattered here and there. I'm ignorant of lily propagation methods-- but know it requires lots of patience: dividing mature bulbs and/or planting the tiny "bulblets." And from seed, it apparently takes 7 years for a lily to mature and flower. No wonder the large bulbs are expensive. Anyway, at B&D you could wander around freely looking at the different species before you order. At one point a lady came up to chat and gave us a catalog, but it was a peaceful and low pressure situation. There were beautiful Orientals growing like weeds, and I saw the Black Beauty for the first time. I remember being struck with a bad case of garden covetousness, I HAD to have that lily!

The best time to plant lilies here is in the fall, so we placed a large order that summer and I remember the bulbs were huge and fresh when they arrived in September. I planted the Black Beauties and several other varieties, some of which gradually petered out. But old Black Beauty is still going strong. B&D describes it on ther website as "nearly indestructible."