The fruits and flowers of this charming, but heavily self-sowing, perennial add appeal to the summer garden. Blackberry lily is an old fashioned flower that originates from Russia, China and India. It forms upright clumps of stiff, sword-like leaves of medium green. In summer, tall, airy, branched stems appear topped with orange lily-like flowers with red and yellow markings. These are followed by clusters of small, round, glossy black fruits that look much like blackberries.
Drought tolerant and tough, blackberry lily is a reliably beautiful perennial for any sunny garden with well-drained, average soil. The only caveat is that this member of the iris family has a tendency to self-sow readily, so be sure to remove its seedheads before they fall to the ground. (Learn2Grow.com)
Genus - Belamcanda
Species - Chinensis
Common name - Leopard Lily
Pre-Treatment - Required
Hardiness zones - 5 - 8
Height - 12"-36" / 30.5cm - 91.4cm
Spread - 12"-24" / 30.5cm - 61.0cm
Plant type - Flower
Vegetation type - Deciduous
Exposure - Full Sun, Partial Shade
Growth rate - Fast
Soil PH - Neutral
Soil type - Clay, Loam, Sand, Well Drained
Water requirements - Drought Tolerant, Average Water
Landscape uses - Feature Plant, Mixed Borde
Germination rate - 75%
Bloom season - Early Summer, Summer, Late Summer
Leaf / Flower color - Green / Red, Orange, Lemon Yellow
Useful Info | |
Germination | 1. Soak for 24 hours in warm and clean water. 2. Cold stratify for 7 days in air tight ziplock bag mixed with the moist vermiculite or sterile soil/sand. 3. Fill a 4-inch-deep nursery tray with potting soil. Firm the soil to squeeze out trapped air and even-out the surface. Add more soil to fill the tray, if necessary. 4. Sow lily seeds 2 inches apart in the nursery tray. Sow them at a depth equal to four times the diameter of each seed, which is approximately 1.5 to 2 inches. Cover the seeds completely and firm the soil atop them. • Spray the potting soil inside the nursery tray using a garden hose with a misting attachment. Wet the soil to a depth of 2 inches. Let the top 3/4-inch of soil dry out before watering again. 5. Place the nursery tray in a greenhouse or cold frame atop a propagation mat. Set the temperature on the propagation mat to 68 F at night and 85 F during the day to mimic how the soil warms and cools outdoors. Germination tends to be slow, faster in warmer temperatures. 6. Watch for germination in one to two months. Transplant the candy lily seedlings as soon as they produce a pair of true leaves, which are long, narrow and pointed. Put the seedlings into 6-inch plastic pots filled with potting soil. 7. Keep the individually potted candy lily plants in the greenhouse or cold frame until outdoor temperatures reach 68 F and the soil has warmed. Plant the seedlings a foot apart in a sunny bed with loamy, draining soil. |