Stargazer Lily
"I saw the prettiest picture
Through a garden fence to-day,
Where the lilies look like angels
Just let out to play."
-Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
(1844-1911)
(1844-1911)
Hardy hybrid oriental lilies are variously listed as Lilium asiatica, L. asiaticum, L. orientalis or L. orientale. These cultivars are among the most widely loved & garden flowers in the world.
'Stargazer' is one of the two or three most popularly grown Asian hybrid lilies. It produces large upward-gazing fragrant pink flowers with white edges, magenta spots, & a dark stripe down the center of each petal, topped with dark stamins.
The pink can range from light pink to dark pink depending on soil richness, light conditions, or even just the age of the flower.
It rises two feet or occasionally three feet straight up & is so sturdy it requires no staking. It spreads a bit each year increasing its flower stocks. It can be left unbothered for several years but will eventually want to be dug up & divided.
Suited to the open garden or containers & good for cut flowers, it thrives in zones 5 through 10. In our garden it is in full large bud by late June but waits until almost the end of July to burst into flower, displaying itself in early August.