Lilium regale Album - Lily

lilium regale 'Album', also known as the Royal Lily or Trumpet Lily, is the white form of a beautiful and easy-to-grow botanical species. It is a large, majestic and fragrant bulbous plant, with up to 30 elongated but open, very large, pure white trumpet flowers with a lemon heart. They bloom faithfully every year in July. Very vigorous and reliable, it will bring a touch of refinement to the garden and a lot of personality to floral compositions. Botanical lilies have retained the grace and vigour of wild plants often lost along the way by their hybrids. This great classic of French and English cottage gardens is a real treat for the eyes and nose, in the garden and in bouquets.

Royal Lily 'Album' is a deciduous bulbous plant, with a narrow and very vertical tufted growth from spring onwards. It belongs to the Lily family and is the white form of a species native to western China. This plant will reach 1.50m (5ft) high when in bloom, and the tuft will spread indefinitely over time, with bulbs producing bulblets. In July-August, umbels of very fragrant, pure white trumpet flowers with yellow throats and stamens appear and are 14 cm (6in) long. The dark green leaves are very narrow and lanceolate. The bulbs are storage organs with fleshy, overlapping scales. This Lily forms roots on the underground part of the stems and produces some bulblets in the leaf axils.

Capable of surviving 30 years of neglect, hidden in the heart of an abandoned garden, this lily is a model of reliability, frugality and longevity. You can associate these lilies with non-invasive perennial plants (lupins, gauras, delphiniums) or undemanding small shrubs like caryopteris, lavender, shrubby cinquefoil, and even small bush roses (Rosa Peace and Love, Alissar Princess of Phoenicia), as they like their feet in the shade, and the roses will help prevent the stems from bending in the wind. The Royal Lily is superb in en masse, in a large rock garden, and of course in bouquets.