By Tammy Sons
Long kept in the gardens of the wealthy and royalty in Russia, Japan and China, Blackberry Lily is a short-living perennial that produces vibrant yellow to orange blossoms with sword shaped leaves and petals that can be solid in color or can wear freckles like a small red-headed child.
Before becoming popular across Eastern Asia for its medicinal purposes and throughout the world as an exportable wonder for all to enjoy in their gardens, this sneaky plant escaped the gardens of royalty and made its way to highways and gardens of the poor through self-seeding and bees who pollinated the plants.
And Blackberry Lily is on the run again, since in 2005, molecular scientists Peter Goldblatt and David Mebberley discovered that the properties of this Lily were more akin to its cousin, the Iris. If you are searching for this flower online, you may therefore find it under several other names, including Leopard Lily and Blackberry Iris. The Lily received its name from the black seeds in the center of its petals which resemble stacked blackberries and may be mistaken as such once the petals have fallen and a fresh blanket of snow covers the stem and remaining leaves during winter.
If you intend to grow Blackberry Lily plants in your garden, there are several things you should take into account about the plants. These plants tend to grow best in well-drained soil that is both fertile and in direct sunlight. In addition, you should avoid soils that are heavy in clays—the thickness of the soil will not only retain water, but also choke out oxygen and will ultimately lead to rotting in the roots of the plant.
They tend to flower between July and August and most of these plants will flower within the first year. However, if you like to see your flowers blooming for a great deal of time before dying with the heat and the season, these beautiful flowers may leave you with a great deal of disappointment. Belamcandas (the botanic name for the plants) have flowers which bloom for only one day, then shrivel in the sun and die. But don't be entirely discouraged, these shriveled blossoms are followed by second and third sets which provide equally as lovely blossoms that add to the beauty of your garden. Additionally, the leaves themselves can bolster the look and feel of your garden, especially when planted alongside ornamental grasses and gooseneck plants, or when used as splashes of color in a strategically developed rock garden.
Blackberry Lily plants are not short flowers and can tower over other plants in your garden with their 10-inch tall leaves and 2-foot stems. You should take size into consideration before seeding these flowers into a rock and ground-cover garden.
Even with all of the elements you must consider when dealing with Blackberry Lily flowers, they are ultimately one of the most beautiful additions you can make to your garden, especially if they manage to escape and color your surrounding world.
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