PlantFiles: Oriental Lily
Lilium 'Stargazer'

I have a couple of stands of these, that were planted in later summer last year at one foot tall. They never did flower, and all visible trace of them disappeared over the course of an unusually severe winter. However they returned with astonishing vigor in the Spring, despite getting no fertilizer or watering at any time so far this year. The stalks are now four feet tall and very thick. They will flower profusely, any time now I'm sure of it. The stalks are heavy with buds at the top.

I would note that our soil is heavy clay, which probably never dries out completely, especially since they are in a spot where the ground only gets a couple hours of direct sunlight a day. So don't despair if you don't have good drainage, you could still get good results as we have. It seems they just need a season or two to really get going.

I'm a new gardening and a friend in Washington state told me about her lilies so I thought that I would have a go. 2 days ago they bloomed and they are incredible. The scent as soon as I walk out my back door is wonderful.
Because I have arthritis and have problems bending mine are in a pot and doing so well.
I'm in the Home Counties of England.

I have only owned the stargazer in a vase. The scent is delightful and so I am going to try to plant them. Is it too early/late to plant right now? I have been researching ground cover that I could combine with them and have not had a lot of luck. Has anyone tried combining ground cover with the stargazer?

I planted about 6 bulbs this spring. They all sprouted, grew buds, then they started turning yellow/reddish brown at the base until it slowly crept all the way up and my Stargazers DIED a horrible death. I don't know what happened. The asiatic lilies in the same garden are fine, just the Orientals konked out. My mother thinks they got too much water (heavy rainfall this year). I think this nuisance plant I am trying to get rid of, Chameleon Plant, got too crazy and killed them. Who knows. If anyone has seen this happen to their orientals, let me know!

who doesn't love a stargazer? thats probley why its one of the most poular lillies. Easy to grow , super hardy and beautiful! I have them planted everywhere from full sun to mostly shade. The bulbs even lasted through several winters and springs while being planted in the soggy (almost wet-lands) part of my yard (just plant a little deeper).
The mona lisa is similar and worth checking out also.

Northwest Ohio-
Not much more I can say that everyone else hasn't already covered. One of the few plants that the original homeowner had grown here that I left in place. I will be digging up the bulbs soon to divide them into a few places around the yard. I have cut all the spent flowers away but my stalks are still 5 foot tall and green as can be! I watered these guys a couple times a week and had to stake them, they grew up to 6 foot tall with about 4 hours of sunlight in the afternoon. I will try them in both shady and sunny locations next spring. A very user friendly flower with wonderful rewards and usually after all the other lilys have already come and gone!

I love it! Beautiful and sweet smelling! Have had them as plants in the ground and as cut flowers from the store, they are all wonderful!

The animals love them too, because it seems that after a season or two, the plants no longer come up from having the bulbs eaten. Still, it won't stop me from growing more years from now.

This plant is a pain to grow in the tropics. I think it needs to be chilled for a time in order to flower. This is based on the fact that I grew two, one which chilled in the fridge (veggie bin) for a month and the other one which I didn't chill.

Both plants were given the same soil (1/3 coir, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 compost) and grown in the same semi-shaded spot in the same type and size of container. I also put 2 Tbsp bone meal at the base of each bulb when planting.

The unchilled lily never flowered. It grew to be more or less the same size as the chilled one, but no blooms.

Since I'd rather not have to keep flower bulbs in my fridge, I don't recommend this one for Hawaii. It did just fine for me in Northern California though, since they have a winter (avg low 40F).

I am stunned every year by the size of this lily (3-5 feet) and the number of blooms on each stalk (as many as 8, maybe more). I am in zone 6. Some stems get about 4 hours of direct sun, others get less, I do nothing special to them, but they keep coming back with huge, fragrant flowers that last and last. I wish I could remember where I got the bulbs, maybe the supermarket, maybe Home Depot, what a payoff on a tiny investment of time and money!

Currently my favorite Lily. This spring I bough a pack of 25 Asiatic Lilies from Walmart and planted them all in the same bed. These were the last to bloom out of the bunch, they lasted quite awhile longer, AND they had the most pleasant fragrance. I made it a priority to find more Stargazer's to plant for next spring.

I have many lilies, but this is one of my favorites. It's large, showy and fragrant with gorgeous coloring. It grows well even in areas with more shade. A real garden standout! So perfect they almost don't look real. They also make a great cut flower (many florists use them) -- I've had them last a week in water. However, as one person said, they can make a mess with their orange pollen -- it can stain material. I suggest putting something under the vase to catch the pollen. I've had mine for about 5 or 6 years and this is the first year the deer bothered them. I had very good luck with a product called Liquid Fence which is a natural repellent made from egg and other ingredients to keep deer and rabbits away. It has a horrible stench at first, but when it dries, humans can't smell it.

I can't leave them outside...I must cut them and bring them in so I can delight in the aroma, everytime I walk into the room. Just be careful...the orange pollen stains clothing and skin.

I bought my first Stargazer Lily 5 years ago and two more 4 years ago.

The flowers are beautiful and the fragrance lingers through the yard and into the house when the windows are open. The stalks are tall (4' - 5'), and extremely thick and sturdy.

The plants spread nicely. Each year there are more blooms on the stalks than the previous year. Last year the oldest plant had over 100 blooms on 1 stalk and it didn't need staking.

The lilies are in partial sun and each spring I give them a dose of rose fertilizer.

This is the ONLY Asiatic Lily in our garden so far. My 16 yr old soon says the flowers from this lily are really something ...... his favorite flower variety in our entire garden. Now that's a compliment indeed. Usually all he talks about are his friends or cars. You get the idea. I bought 3 individual qt pots last spring for $3 each when they were blooming and and on "close-out" at a local Drug Store. This year we have 9 lilies blooming. We also have about 40 of them altogether but the 30 or so were too small to have flowers. I can hardly wait till next year. We'll probably have close to 100 plants. Can you imagine the rate of reproduction......almost like Tribles from Startrek.

I "inherited" this plant from a moving neighbor . I thought I was only getting a pot that was half full of dirt but to my surprise the following spring , this beautiful plant comes up ! Imagine my delight when I had those big , beautiful blooms that same year . This year it's in a garden bed and has more than doubled in size . It's very easy to grow here and smells wonderful .

One of the most lovely flowers in my garden. It's fragrance can be noted from across the yard and it's blooms are so big you can't miss them. It's a great companion to roses and does well in my zone 5 garden.

One of the best lilies out there. Long lasting flowers, large flowered and colorful, fragrant and butterflies and hummers LOVE it!

It's very hardy and extremely easy to grow. Makes enough new plants to share with your friends fairly often.

Extremely fragrant and nice coloring. The individual flowers are large, and long lasting. Probably the best known oriental lily available.
Note that every picture uploaded of this flower tend to be different. This is not because of variability in the flowers, but because any red lily with spots tend to be sold as "stargazer". Not many lilies are true stargazers.

One of the most common oriental lilies, but at the same time, one of the best oriental lilies in my opinon. It is extremely fragrant and it is very easy to propagate from scales. Normally, oriental lilies can be difficult to propagate, but Stargazer is one of the easier.

Upfacing flowers provide a nice contrast to most other oriental lilies, and the bloom time is early.

I bought the Stargazer over 5 years ago and my dog tore up the plant just as it was growing but it keeps coming back every year and now I have several from the original plant that I have moved to other areas of my garden but I did not know what the name of it was, so now I know what it is.
Thanks,




vickie

The Oriental Lilies are a wonderful addition to every garden. These plants grow better in full sun in New York and are a must have for every gardener!

Cant add anything to the wonderful descriptions but all I wanted to say is grow it if only for the FRAGRANCE!!! This is truly one of a kind lily beauty and aroma!!!!

I've been growing the Star Gazers and many other Oriental and Asiatic lilies for over five years--mainly successfully. The lilies are mostly in full sun. I have a Green-Touch 3-way plant meter that tells me my soil is very alkaline. I don't know how accurate this meter is. Each fall I add a few inches of 49-er Pay Dirt as a topdressing.

I've been trying to grow the Stargazer lily for about five years, but the deer just love this plant, and I could never keep an open flower for more than a day when I lived up in Georgia. Now I have a fenced six acre place in Northcentral Florida, with dogs running the property, and had my first Star gazer lily open this morning, 7-28-03. It's just beautiful and quite dark red, as it is in filtered sun all day. I love the way the sun shines through it, and the back is almost as red as the front. Now if I can just keep the big grasshoppers off of it! And the fragrance is quite noticable but sweet--I don't find it overpowering.

Star Gazer lillies have performed wonderfully in a shaded location under tall trees and still bloom perfectly. There is a low enough light level that most perenials and even impatiens tend to be thin and leggy but Star Gazer is still normal proportion and blooms heavily. The flowers from the clumps of plants stand out like fire in the shade and are very long lasting without a lot of hot sun on the petals. They have done better than my other varieties in low light.

I have been growing Oriental Star gazers for several years. I have them in 4 areas of the back yard, they are very fragrant. I bought several White Stargazers 2 years ago and they also are very fragrant...I like to grow at least 3 to 5 plants of the same kind to make a good showing.

A vigorous oriental Lily hybrid.

Has alternate, lance shaped leaves. Bears red, unscented flowers whose petals are recurved at the ends and spotted in darker red.

Excellent container Lily and responds well to forcing. Grow in moist but well-drained, neutral to acid soil in sun or light shade. Will tolerate slightly alkaline soils.