Lilium ‘Landini’

This Asiatic Lily is quite simply stunning. Photographs don’t do it justice. It is fully a metre tall with dark green glossy leaves and what are variously described as dark red, chocolate red, or burgundy red flowers. In differing light levels and aspects they can vary from a shade of very dark red to almost black. To me, they look good enough to eat, like dark bitter chocolate!

Two stems of Lily ‘Landini’

Unfortunately, like a lot of the most beautiful lilies, there is no scent to add to it’s credentials but it’s colour is enough to warrant inclusion alongside white and yellow forms to provide contrast and drama.

‘Landini’

I have to admit that I bought the bulbs at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show hoping that they would flower at the same time as the huge flowered white and pink Oriental Lilium longiflorum trumpet lily ‘Triumphator’ which I planted on the same day but, as is often the way with gardening, timing is everything and mine was off! Anyway, it will give another excuse for a separate post when the buds finally open next week. They are still in the greenhouse along with two pots of promising looking Turks Cap lilies, but colder nights may mean disappointing results. We’ll have to wait and see.