Cardiocrinum giganteum var. yunnanense

Striking!!!!, these Chinese lilies produce their showy white, red-throated trumpets on stout 5-7' stems in summer followed by spectacular seed pods; die after flower but produce offsets. PSh/M/GDr (not dry)

This giant lily can get 8' tall with long white flowers in June. The spectacular flowers are long tubes that are very fragrant. These are large bulbs that should bloom within a couple of years. The leaves are broad and attractive as we are waiting for the blooms to appear.

For the uninitiated a large Cardiocrinum is shocking and then learning there are two forms of these giant beauties it is nearly too wild to believe. In stature and habit varying not at all, but setting itself apart with very dark, nearly black, stems and narrower ivory flowers, the yunnanense variety is also as hardy and grows best in a cool maritime climate.

Everything about this fantastic subalpine Chinese native is BIG! Enormous bulbs stockpile their stamina for nearly seven years before launching 10 to 15 ft. tall, hollow black-infused flowering stems, loosely clad in glossy leaves. An elegant gathering of pendulous, 10 in. long creamy white, trumpet-like blooms with reddish purple-streaked throats and a delectable fragrance crowns the energy charged treelike stalks. Below, handsome thick, heart-shaped foliage that measures about 10 in. across and 18 in. long forges a large green basal rosette. The Giant Himalayan Lily possesses a long lasting dramatic stance, even in autumn, when decorative fruit capsules transmute warm chestnut hues and split open, pouring their countless silky seeds upon the garden. After flowering the plant sadly perishes, but smaller bulbs ensure an extraordinary encore in a couple of years.

Blooms: spring-summer, white trumpet, red-purple throat/ deciduous, early new growth, bronze, large glossy Zone 7-9. 5'-10', China, part shade-sun, moist, well drained