Madonna Lilies
The Chinese and Japanese have been eating them for thousands of years and while the Minoans of 4000 years ago perhaps didn't eat them, they did put them on their famous ceramic pottery. Some ceramic historians think the Minoan pottery is really from Atlantis; this means of course that Madonna lilies were known in Atlantis. A fact I'm sure will sweep summer cocktail parties like wildfire.
Starting From Seed
If you are a seed starter, simply give them a 90 day damp cooling period and then sow them in a flowerpot in a warm spot.
The cold phase can be achieved by putting the seed into a baggie with a bit of barely damp vermiculite. Put the baggie into the frig crisper for 90 days.
Germination is slow and irregular so don't move the bulb until late in the summer when all the germinated bulbs can be moved at the same time.
Plant it at the same depth as it was in the seedling tray, it will adjust its own depth over the next few years.
Tag the spot so you don't lose it or dig it up by mistake and then mulch in November of the first year with a pile of leaves or straw or something that will protect the tender transplant from winter ravages.
Leaf appearance
Once mature, this plant throws a rosette of leaves in the fall (unlike all other lilies) so do not weed it out thinking you are removing a late- emerging weed. :-)
Upper leaves are like any other lily.
How To Grow
Plant in full sun.
Well-drained but fertile soil. Clay will rot this bulb due to excessive moisture.
Hardy to USDA 4 (a 3 in most years)
Plant approximately 4-6 inches deep.
Uses
Not only did these poor lilies get eaten or preserved for posterity, they were the basis for a thriving pharmaceutical industry. The Roman Plinius recorded that salves and oils were prepared from the leaves and flowers and this used continued well into the 17th century.
If you were stung by a scorpion or bitten by a snake then the Madonna lily was your prescription.
Rub it on stiff muscles or suffer from irregularity - rub it elsewhere.
It even got used as a distilled product for leprosy, bumps on the breast, and childbirth.
If one bruised a bulb and then rubbed the bruised bulb on the affected body part it was said to be quite effective; it was reputed to cool infections, act as a diuretic and a remedy for fluctuating fevers.
If you soaked the leaves in brandy and then applied them to a wound, the wound was said to heal uninfected.
Naturally with a name like Madonna lily, the plant was also a serious cosmetic factory. Mix the petals with honey and apply them to your wrinkles to create a wonderfully smooth skin is the recommendation from one writer. (All you wrinkled people out there can leave my lilies alone - get your own)
Lily oil from Persia was used by women who believed that if they bathed in the stuff, they would retain their youthful beauty forever. (Now those Persians were serious salesmen!)
My personal favourite and the reason I'm taking the garden label off the Madonna lily patch is that it was also used as an aphrodisiac and as a central ingredient in magical love potions.
Now this wonderful lily came into cultivation through the crusaders bringing it back to their estates. I mean, if some Persian told you about this plant that would do all the things I've mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, wouldn't you bring it back with you as well?
t was mentioned by Chaucer in the Canterbury tales and Gerard's Herbal, written in 17th century England records that it was commonly grown in the best gardens of the time. This is a plant with a serious history lesson to share.
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