Lilies are my favorite flower. They last a long time in the garden, are often fragrant, make excellent cut flowers, and pollinators flock to them. Oh, and they are very easy to grow! All of these attributes make lilies my favorite flower to plant every year to increase my varieties. But some lilies simply increase in number and return year after year…which applies to my all-time favorite: ‘Black Beauty’. Purchased in Gardens of the old housemy lilies have formed two impressive clumps that last at least 6-7 weeks in July and August. When they start blooming in July, I’m in my happy place!
Each stem can contain 50 to 150 flowers per stem and I cut them all the time to take home and enjoy. One stem makes a bouquet or eye-catching accent! It blends beautifully with other perennials and annuals in perennial borders, give it some space and I would suggest planting at least 3 to start.
Called Orienpet Lily (a cross between a trumpet and an oriental lily), Black Beauty was a breakthrough in lily breeding.
Old House Gardens says this about Black Beauty…Although absolutely gorgeous, with between 15 and 40 dark raspberry-coloured Turk’s cap-shaped flowers with narrow silver edges, ‘Black Beauty’ is even more prized for its wonderful vigor and long life in all types of gardens. In fact, you’ll often hear it called “indestructible.” (It’s even resistant to the lily beetle, researchers say.) The first lily voted into the NALS Hall of Fame and a favorite of our customers year after year, it is one of the finest of the 20th century. Sturdy 5-7 foot stems, mid-summer, zones 5a-8a, from Holland.”
I completely agree with that assessment and the only downside to this lily is that I have to hold it after it reaches 6 feet tall. If a storm comes, the stems sometimes break or bend to the ground. But that’s a small price to pay to have this beauty in my garden. Sphinx moths, butterflies and hummingbirds flock to this beauty and my garden is bustling with activity when these gems bloom. Indestructible and returning every year, this lily will outlive me! This lily ticks all the boxes for me: long-lasting, easy to grow, beautiful, attractive to pollinators of all kinds, and fragrant.
To plant these beauties in the fall, simply dig a hole 4 to 6″ deep with the pointed side of the bulbs facing up in a location in full sun (6 to 8 hours). They may also need some shade, but will bloom more profusely in the sun. Water the planting area to settle the soil and forget about them. In spring you will notice robust shoots emerging from the ground. The first year, they can reach 5 feet tall. But in the years that follow, they will outgrow you to 7′ in height!
The most important feature of this lily is the time of its flowering. When your garden starts to look tired in July and August, this lily is just beginning to put on a dazzling show.
