WHEN LILIES BLOOM

A Roughhewn “Calendar” of Early Summer’s Favorite Bulb Flower

Lilium pensylvanicum (nope, not native to the Keystone State)

Last February, I put up a list of daffodil cultivars (“varieties”), grouped by season of bloom. It was a preliminary listing, based on what I’ve grown or seen along with input from other gardeners who love daffodils and narcissus and who keep track of such bloom times. One big difference here is that this list doesn’t get down to the cultivar (“variety”) level. This is made up exclusively of species and hybrid groups. I did include a handful of special cultivars that distinctly stand out from others within their species or hybrid group.

This is proposed as a planning guide for those who would indulge in lilies and would like to have the longest season possible of these luscious flowers. As is, most gardeners have one or two or maybe three Asiatic Hybrid Lilies that will get their season started in mid-June, and they may have one or two or so Oriental Hybrid Lilies that will extend the season into and possibly through July. These are the two most commonly grown home garden lilies; I’ve written them out in bold type in the list to emphasize where they sit in the big calendar scheme of things. As you can see, there’s a lot more to lilies than those two hybrid groups; some start the season off almost overlapping the last of the daffodils and some take it right through the dahlia bloom sequence. Plenty of North American native lilies, too.

As with the daffodil list, these “seasons” (“EARLIEST”, “EARLY,” etc.) are relative within themselves and not by the calendar on the wall. The MID-SEASON bloomers in Northern gardens usually bloom mid-summer while the same bloomers would bloom early summer in the South. This list is based on an estimated average for the middle zones (neither very north nor very south). It’s the pattern of seasons you’re looking for. Find the pattern for your area and adjust your list earlier or later depending on how your varieties line up with those listed.

I’m always looking for input on first-draft calendars such as this. As my sub-title says, this list is “roughhewn” (I’ve left in several question marks intentionally). If, for instance, you notice your Lilium formosanum blooms earlier than your ‘Casa Blanca’, an Oriental hybrid, please let me know.

THE SEQUENCE OF BLOOM OF LILIUM SPECIES, HYBRIDS, AND CULTIVAR GROUPS

Arranged in order within each bloom season

EARLIEST

Lilium pensylvanicum (Lilium dauricum) – SAFFRON LILY, SIBERIAN LILY (May?)

Lilium ciliatum – TIGER LILY, LEOPARD LILY (?)

Lilium szovitsianum - ZOVITS’ LILY (May-??June)

Lilium maritimum – COAST LILY (MAY-?)

Lilium mackliniae Saramati form - SARAMATI LILY (May?-June)

Lilium martagon hybrids (some) - MARTAGON LILY (May??)

Lilium mackliniae “KW” Form - KINGDON WARD’S SHIRUI LILY (May and June)

Lilium candidum - MADONNA LILY (May and June)

The real “Easter” lily: Lilium candidum, a species found today in a few nooks and crannies in the high valleys of upper Western Galilee and Mt. Hermon. They are also “the lilies of the field.”

Lilium bulbiferum - FIRE LILY (May-July)

Lilium columbianum - TIGER LILY (May-July)

.

EARLY

Lilium ‘Fusion’ - FUSION LILY (mid-June to mid-July)

Lilium martagon - MARTAGON LILY, TURK’S-CAP LILY (Late June-July)

Lilium x hollandicum – DUTCH MASTER LILY (June-early July)

Lilium pumilum - CORAL LILY (June-July)

Lilium Asiatic hybrids - ASIATIC LILY (mid-June)

Lilium “African Queen Group” - AFRICAN QUEEN LILIES (June-July)

The spectacular “African Queen” series of Lilium hybrids

Lilium concolor - MORNING STAR LILY (June-July)

Lilium davidii - CREEPING LILY (June-July)

Lilium duchartrei - DUCHARTRE LILY (June-July)

Lilium x elegans - SUMMER LILY, ASIATIC HYBRID LILY (June-July)

Lilium lankongense - TURKS-CAP LILY (June ?+)

Lilium mackliniae - SHIRUI LILY (June-July)

One of my favorite lilies: Lilium mackliniae

Lilium mackliniae Manipur Form - MANIPUR LILY (June-July)

Lilium michiganense - MICHIGAN LILY (June-July)

Lilium nepalense - NEPAL LILY (June-July)

Lilium parryi - LEMON LILY(June-July)

Lilium x sulphurgale ‘Vico Gold’ - GIANT YELLOW LILY (June-July)

Lilium x testaceum - NANKEEN LILY (June-July)

.

MID-SEASON

Lilium canadense - CANADA LILY (Jun-Jul/Aug)

Lilium cernuum - NODDING LILY (June-August)

Lilium pyrenaicum - PYRENEAN LILY (June-July)

Lilium kelloggii - KELLOGG’S LILY (June-Aug)

Lilium kelloggii, a California and Oregon native

Lilium “Rose Lily Series” (and other doubles) - DOUBLE-FLOWERED ORIENTAL LILIES (June-July/August)

Lilium regale - REGAL LILY (July)

Lilium regale hybrids (“Aurelian”) - [CHINESE] TRUMPET LILIES (July)

Lilium jankae - BALKAN LILY (July)

Lilium leucanthum var. centifolium - BLACK DRAGON LILY (July)

Lilium longiflorum x Orientals Crosses (LO) – LO HYBRID LILIES (July)

Lilium longiflorum - EASTER LILY (?May/July-August)

Lilium pardalinum - SHASTA LILY (May-August?)

Lilium bolanderi - BOLANDER’S LILY (July-August)

Lilium OA Hybrids (Oriental x Asiatic) - (July-August)

Lilium LA hybrids (Longiflorum x Asiatic) - LA HYBRID LILIES (July-August)

Lilium Oriental hybrids - ORIENTAL LILIES (June-July-August)

Lilium washingtonianum - MT. HOOD LILY, SHASTA LILY, WASHINGTON LILY, CASCADE LILY (May-July/August)

Lilium formosanum var. pricei - DWARF FORMOSA LILY (June-July/August)

Lilium formosanum var. pricei — small plant, HUGE flowers

Lilium occidentale - WESTERN TIGER LILY (June?July-August)

Lilium pardalinum ssp. shastense - LEOPARD LILY (June-August)

Lilium parvum - SIERRA TIGER LILY (June-August)

Lilium sargentiae - SARGENT’S LILY (June-August)

Lilium “Golden Splendor Group” - GOLDEN SPLENDOR LILIES (July-August)

Lilium leichtlinii - LEICHTLIN'S LILY (July-August)

Lilium mackliniae Naga Form - NAGA LILY (July-August)

Lilium pardalinum ssp. pardalinum - LEOPARD LILY (July-August)

Lilium pardalinum ssp. vollmeri - VOLLMER’S LEOPARD LILY (July-August)

Lilium pardalinum ssp. wigginsii - WIGGINS’ LEOPARD LILY (July-August)

Lilium primulinum - OCHER (OCHRE) LILY (July-August?)

Lilium sulphureum - SULFUR LILY (July-August)

Lilium superbum - TURK’S-CAP LILY (July-August)

Lilium taliense - FRAGRANT TURK’S-CAP LILY, YUNNAN TURK’S CAP LILY (July-August)

.

LATEST

Lilium Orienpet hybrids - MODERN HYBRID LILIES (July-August/Sept)

Lilium auratum - GOLD-BAND LILY (July-August/Sept)

Lilium martagon hybrids (most) - TURK’S CAP LILY (July-August/Sept??)

Lilium lancifolium - TIGER LILY (July-August/Sept)

Lilium wallichianum - LONG-FLOWERED LILY (July-August/?Sept)

Lilium formosanum - FORMOSA LILY (August-Sept)

Lilium formosanum “Giant Form” - GIANT TAIWAN LILY (?)

Lilium speciosum - JAPANESE LILY, RUBRUM LILY (August+Sept)

Lilium rosthornii - ROSTHORN’S LILY (August-Sept)

Lilium henryi - HENRY’S LILY (July-August)

Lilium speciosum var. rubrum ‘Uchida’ - UCHIDA LILY (latest?: Sept-Oct)

Lilium speciosum var. rubrum ‘Uchida’ — possibly the latest blooming of commercially available lilies

Lilium speciosum var. gloriosoides “Mainland forms” (later?)

Lilium speciosum var. gloriosoides “Taiwan form” (later?)

I’m opening COMMENTS up to any reader. You are welcome to send me your garden notes (bits and bobs, partial or whole) at any time during the lily season. Or send them when the full season (as indicated by those varieties in the “LATEST” group) is over. Post a comment here or send directly to my email: backtothenewbasics@yahoo.com.

If you are a PAID SUBSCRIBER and are interested in all the plants that go by the name of “Lily” and especially if you want to know about the taxonomy of “lilies,” do check out the complementary article here: “WHEN IS A LILY NOT A LILY?”

.

And, please, if you have a chance, Restack this article and/or Share it with other media; I figure the more gardeners who see it, the more will provide input, and the more definitive and useful this listing becomes. Thank you.

.

© Copyright Joe Seals, 2025