Mutant Lilies - Mystery solved!

[LadyShea]

So we had some lady buy and place all our plants last year, and aren't sure what most of them are. They look good.

Today, suddenly two of the plants bloomed. Seems to be some kind of lily, but I can't find anything exactly like it online.

It has 6 white petals, each with a fuzzy raised yellow part down the center (like they would normally be sticking out the center of a lily all dangly but these are fused with the petals). Growing out of the middle of the white petals are 3 small lavender petals.

[The Lone Ranger]

Sounds like the white "petals" may actually be sepals.

If you can get some pictures, that'd be immensely helpful.

Cheers,

Michael

[Plant Woman]

How tall are the plants? Can you describe the leaves. How big are the flowers? Is it trumpet shaped? It doesn't sound like a lily, although it could be in the liliaceae family.

[LadyShea]

I missed the replies to my thread, sorry 'bout that.

The plants are about 3ft tall and long thin leaves that seem to stick straight up from the ground rather than come off a woody branch...exactly like the leaves on dayliliy images I have seen online. Each plant only had two flowers, on separate stalks and the flowers are only there a day or two. I have been unable to get a picture due to camera issues. They are not trumpet shaped, they perfectly symmetrical stars. The closest images I can find are various daylilies, but none have the separate petal crown in the center.

In other "I love Alabama because I can't kill plants here" news, the crape myrtle we had given up for dead, but stuck in the ground anyway, not only survived, not only leafed this spring, but is now in bloom with gorgeous watermelon pink flowers.

The lantana is almost like a weed in this climate, and is choking out some of the other plants including several of the lily-like plants, so we are going to have to trim it way, way down even though it's blooming. We cut them to the ground over the winter and now they are enormous!

yesterday we bought purple passion vines to plant along our chain link fence, and the flowers are very complex and interesting. Good news on the plant front from this renowned killer of all things green and leafy ;)

[The Lone Ranger]

Are you sure you don't have double-flowered daylilies there? There are several different varieties of double-flowered daylilies that are commonly cultivated, and perhaps your mystery plant is one of those.

This variety, for example, is called "Peach Souflee":

http://www.usna.usda.gov/graphics/usna/PhotoGallery/DaylilyGallery/PeachSouffle.jpg


Cheers,

Michael

[LadyShea]

Gorgeous flower, that! From my viewing there are about 10 million varieties of daylilly and what I have may be one of them. The center crown only has three tiny petals though, not nearly as complex as that!

If they bloom again I will get a pic as the camera seems to be up and running.

[The Lone Ranger]

From your description, it sure sounds like a double-flowered daylily. Maybe what you have is similar to one of these (http://www.tranquil-lake.com/catalog/Shape/double.htm) varieties? You're right, though; there are about a zillion different daylily varieties. Maybe someone from a local horticultural shop could identify it, perhaps?

Cheers,

Michael

[Plant Woman]

The description of the leaves are that of a daylily (Hemerocallis), which are in the lily family but a different genus then the lily (Lilium). There are so many daylily cultivars, as you found out, that it would be difficult to identify which one it is exactly, unless it is one that is unlike any other.

There is no pure white daylily, so is it more cream colored or greenish white?

[LadyShea]

I just registered "white", but it was very probably tinted. The center stripe was shockingly yellow though, so my untrained eye didn't pick up on the subtleties of the white part :( Sorry I am new to flowers, in Vegas we had Oleanders and that was about it for color.

[Plant Woman]

I would do the same thing too if it was close to white. It will be fun to see what new plants you will be discovering.

If you are looking to expand your flower palette. I highly recommend you visit Plant Delights Nursery on the web. They are in North Carolina so they grow a lot of plants that will grow great in your neck of the woods. He offers wonderful, some rare, some unusual plants. His catalogs always have funny caricatures of the latest political or celebrities fiascos, but mainly he offers unique plants. A lot we can't grow in the mild, cool climate of the Pacific Northwest although I wish I could. I order from them, but I have to make careful selections in order to buy plants that will take to the climate I offer them. You on the other hand can probably grow all that he offers. I envy you for that!

[LadyShea]

I am a bonehead I guess. The flowers are African Iris' (hubby's gardener friend just came by). Seems mine were more symettrical and "tighter" than this pic. It looks somehow more relaxed than my flowers...but the colors are right.

http://www.mortellaro.com/plantinfo/iri/iris.jpg