Four years later, 13 season together— I finally have sent you off—-

A letter, from an enquirer, sent a request for L. michiganense stolon ( stoloniferous )

Characteristically labels as a ‘dogbone’ shape These are examples of ones that I am now sending out that have grown from seed started in 2022. I am packing them in peat to send off to a company in Minnesota that wants to enhance the walkways into their establishment with Native perennials .

     Certainly has been a wild couple of weeks here at HgG. Fall 2025 started my response;

I cannot wait to see these lilies in Downtown St Paul, I will watch them grow tall and strong. Thank you for your interest in Native Species Lilium michiganense.

The main thing to remember is that they don’t truly want to be sitting in wet, as you mentioned the drip line from ground sprinkler system should work out great. I have enclosed some larger stolen to plant. Lay them sideways. 

This perennial plant is 1½–4′ tall, (yet mine have reached 5 feet tall with grand candelabra inflorescence.)  The central stem is light to medium green.  The leaves usually occur in whorls of 3-7 along the stem, although some of the upper leaves may occur in pairs or they may alternate individually. Individual leaves are 2½–5″ long and ¼–¾” across; they are elliptic in shape, smooth (entire) along their margins, and sessile or nearly so. Leaf venation is parallel. Each showy flower is about 2-3″ long and similarly across, consisting of 6 tepals, 6 stamens, and a pistil with a single style. The tepals are yellow-orange to orange-red, purple-spotted, lanceolate in shape, and strongly recurved; the tips of the tepals are located near the base of the flower. The stamens are strongly exserted and slightly spreading; their filaments are light green to nearly the color of a winter white, while their anthers are reddish brown paprika in color, oblongoid or ellipsoid in shape, and less than ½” in length. The style is strongly exserted and curved slightly upward; it is light yellow to nearly a winter beige white, except toward the slightly swollen tip, where it is tinted yellow to orange-red.

The blooming period occurs from early to mid-summer, lasting about 1 month. There is no noticeable floral scent. Afterwards, the flowers are replaced by seedpods. ( I collect seeds and will put them into the freezer for ventilation for a few months before I pot them up for germination ) Seeds are provided… So toss in your freezer, within a few months, take them out and start the process for delayed hypogeal germination.   Delayed hypogeal germination. They will sprout their first true leaf only after a 3 month cold period. The true leaf will be put up within a three week period from the time the bulblet is planted out. It is well worth watching these seeds on a regular basis as some may germinate as immediate hypogeal and the very odd one as immediate epigeal. The species with this type of germination which I have grown will germinate as follows: 40 to 60 days after planted.

LETS PLANT SEEDS—- The main key is patience !!!! Lets look at the seeds

1 – Zip-lock baggie germination. This is what I am doing now. Sept -Oct
Prepare your zip-lock baggies with peat and a light spray of water, just damp, not wet or saturated.  Now, place baggie in a dark area that is around 18 °C. (65 °F.). I have mine in a dark space above my refrigerator where it is warm and completely dark…  I will check them from time to time, open the baggie up and give them an air exchange, Check to see if there is mold and remove anything that looks fuzzy or just not right. Better to toss now then to infect an entire yield of potential crops. but for the most part just forget about them till after the  NEW YEARS…  

After a three to four month incubation time period above the fridge, (so long as the seeds have germinated), give the bulblets now at least a three month, or longer, cold (dormant) period at temperatures of 2 °C. (35 °F.).  I use the four month incubation time period as the resulting seedlings do far better then those given a three month incubation period. Three weeks before your last expected spring frost date remove the bulblets from their cold period and plant them about 3/4’s of an inch deep. From date of planting the bulblets out until the first true leaves start poking through the soil will be about three weeks. Some types of lilies that germinate as delayed hypogeal are very slow to germinate; those ones should be given the three month incubation period counting from the time the given seed lot started to germinate, not from the time they were planted.   SO— NOW PUT THEM IN THE REFRIGERATOR JAN-APRIL BUT I USUALLY DO NOT GET THEM OUT UNTILL AROUND MAY. 

Congratulations. You are now a Delayed Hypogeal Germinator

  When you remove them from the refrigerator, you will see baby bulbs in the baggie, — Pot them up by inverting the entire mass of peat and seeds ( I usually cut the baggie and remove the entire (peat and seed pancake) and place gently to not disrupt the roots of the babies— into a pot of nice compost, sand mix that is halfway full, then place your seed mass in the pot, and then add more amended soil … water in well with warm water and wait to sprout.. They will be green leaves that will emerge. I will take outside and leave the pot hidden in the gardens to live — allowing them to go dormant in Aug and then planting them in a permanent place within the garden beds. These bulbs will be a bit bigger and I will plant about 2 1/2 inches below the surface of my grounds.

  2 – Direct planting or broadcasting    If you do not want to fuss, broadcast seeds— lightly cover and let nature take care of the vernalization, stratification and germination for you  right now Sept- October— You will lose seed as some may feed wildlife as well as some just will not survive our winter conditions— Allow nature to take care of what she does best… Remember, in spring and summer, you will not see anything as the bulbs are developing underground first. 

   3 –   Or— when you get your seeds, just toss them into the deep freezer and then plant your lily seeds about 1/4 inch deep. (June or July) the following year, (three to four months before the frost will penetrate your soil’s surface.)  Throughout the summer keep the soil moist. What is happening underground is that there is bulb development.  The following spring your bulblets will send up their first true leaves. First winter’s survival rate after the first sprouting will vary from one species to the next. My observations are that  L. michiganense have had poor first winter survival rates if they are not protected with blankets of leaves. So if you’re not sure about your winter conditions and have a limited supply of seeds it is best to plant using the baggie method. That way you can ensure your seedlings have a little more maturity before they have to face their first out door winter. But with added leaf litter blankets for the first winter they do pretty good.

So in a nut shell 

  1. Put into a warm environment for 3-4 months, zip lock baggies work great -followed by a refrigerator verbalization for another 3-4 months and pot up or plant in the grounds  This method speeds up the maturity by mimicking a season inside your home. 

  2.. Plant now Fall and allow nature to do what she does, Stratification, Vernalization and Germination. the process of elimination of weak or deformed seed embryos and the strongest survive…. Some seeds do not make it over the cold winter and if you planted 30 seeds, only 20  may germinate underground in the spring ( remember you will not see anything yet in the spring as the bulbs are forming underground if they survived the first winter ) 

  3.  Toss in freezer and deal with them in June,  you would plant them and the warm earth and spring rain will nourish the newly formed underground bulbs ( small and tiny ) the size of a grain of rice.  You will not see any growth emerging until the following spring. 

This is the three different processes that I use, as I am in a hurry to get the word out to grow Minnesota Native Lilies Species 

     Do not hesitate to call or email.  I will drop off your lilies at the Hotel on Monday—— Please take care      All my thoughts and blessings for all you do. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity.

  Xoxo Rosie 

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All three methods work—— Sometimes life has us busy where fortunately we still have a choice on getting to the same outcome.   

The preference is full to partial sun, loamy soil or sandy loam, and moist conditions. An established plant, however, can withstand some drought. Cultivation from seed is slow and difficult, while cultivation from bulbs or transplants is somewhat faster and easier. Plants that are spoiled with too much fertilizer and standing in too much watering may flop over. 

The native Michigan Lily occurs in scattered counties of Illinois (see Distribution Map), where it is uncommon. Habitats include moist black soil prairies, openings in deciduous woodlands, typical thickets and sandy thickets, Bur Oak savannas, moist sandy meadows along rivers, swamps, fens, and prairie remnants along railroads. Michigan Lily is found in higher quality natural areas.