Fawn Lily

Fawn Lily bud

Last year we went to a Native Plant Society sale held in late Spring and while there purchased a few plants to put in pots on the porch.  My selection included yellow-eyed grass, trillium, bunch-berry, stream violets, wild ginger and a fawn lily.  There are plenty of squirrels in my neighborhood and they will dig up bulbs and eat them so the great fear was that they would get the fawn lily bulb.  The lily had already bloomed when I bought it so there really was nothing to see above the dirt and I just had to wait until it was ready to bloom again to see if it survived.  Yes!  It was exciting to see it poking up and getting ready to bloom.  Here are some photos showing the waiting beginning stage, seen above, and the full bloom, below.

A cousin to the brighter yellow Glacier Lily and the white Avalanche Lily that are found at higher elevations the pale yellowish Fawn Lily can grow at sea level.  The Fawn Lily has a mottled leaf pattern, the other two have plain green leaves.  All three bloom early and go dormant in mid summer.  The flower un-curves at night and the petals re-curve during the day to get the most exposure for pollination.  I am not sure how many days the lily will be in bloom but it is gorgeous today.

Just beginning to open

Open but not yet re-curved

In the afternoon, fully re-curved