PlantFiles: Regal Lily
Lilium regale

Zone 9b coastal Otago NZ
These lilies are very popular in New Zealand, blooming around and known as the 'Christmas lily'. They are highly perfumed and less fussy than orientals; I've seen them grow in virtually any soil as long as it is mounded or well drained. They always remind me of my great grandmother, who kept a group of them beside her blackcurrants.
Be aware though, that there is an almost identical-looking variety or species with a slightly greener throat that has no scent whatsoever.
For the best number of blooms, plant in full sun as they seem more sensitive to this requirement than some other species. Very lovely and undemanding.

Glorious Fragrance! I planted this under my bedroom window and at night the fragrance is just heavenly. Beautifully formed flowers are doing very well in my very sandy soil.

This is a new favorite!!

During the Victorian period, European plant explorers, mostly British, tramped endlessly through the world's jungles as Plant Explorers looking for "new" species. Their exotic finds poured into Europe and the US like a flood as gardeners took one new plant after another into their hearts and into their gardens. Probably the most famous explorer was a British botanist named E. H. Wilson. He discovered so many plants in China that he ended up being nicknamed "Chinese Wilson." During the early 1900s, Dr. Wilson was recruited to the US by Boston's Arnold Arboretum, and working for them, revisited the Orient many times. On one historic occasion in Western China, he spotted a spectacular wild lily blooming in a ravine. He became so excited, he lost his footing trying to reach it, and tumbled down the steep slope. He did get to the lily, of course, but not until doing permanent damage to one of his legs in the fall. For the rest of his life, Dr. Wilson walked with the result, which he called his "lily limp." The famously seductive wild lily was Lilium regale which the world soon knew as The Regal Lily. In fact, the introduction of Wilson's magnificent L. regale rocked the gardening world overnight. And the rest is, literally, history. The Regal Lily is still one of the most treasured garden lilies, even though it has served as parent to a whole host of hybrids called "The Trumpet Lilies". But ask any expert: none of the hybrids are as lovely as the original. (I found this information while doing some research [and ordering] at American Meadows website in Vermont.)

I have some in full sun and some in part shade. All do well. Scent wafts into entire garden

The Regal Lily is an apt name.

A fragrance that Chanel should strive for.

Easy to grow, forgiving of bad pH, overwatering, and frost. Will continually multiply by bulblets.