Common Name: Canada or Meadow Lily, Canada Martagon^[1]

Scientific Name: Lilium canadense

Description: Hardy, Eastern North American, mid-summer flowering bulb; Broadly trumpet shaped, yellow to yellow-orange flowers with rich, maroon-red spots in the center

Size: Flower stem grows 3 to 5 feet

Cultural Information: Prefers sun to part shade; moist, humus-rich loam

USDA Zones: 2 through 7

Historical Notes: This strikingly beautiful native lily was introduced to Europe in 1620. While living in Paris in 1786, Jefferson wrote to Philadelphia nurseryman John Bartram, requesting plants of "Lilium Canadense,"^[2]and Bartram's 1783 broadside included "Lillium martagon." Bernard McMahon, also from Philadelphia, listed "Canada Martagon Lily" in his book, The American Gardener's Calendar, 1806^[3], and early 19th-century gardener Jean Skipwith grew the "spotted Canada Martagon lily" at her southern Virginia home, Prestwould.

Footnotes

1. ↑ This article is based on Peggy Cornett, CHP Information Sheet.
2. ↑ 17 January 1786. Betts, Garden Book, 109. Jefferson bought some seeds from James Lee & Co. on April 24, 1786. See ibid, 115.
3. ↑ McMahon, 461, 494, and 534.

Further Sources

• Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants

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