Until recently (courtesy of Bjørnar Olsen)
Lilium henricii was barely in cultivation. Outside China the only plants in existence grew in Scotland. The RBGE had some plants and there was reputed to be a small colony at Keillour Castle. I believe that some of the RBGE plants were shared with skilled nurserymen though I'm not sure if any of these still survive.
He may not remember but over 20 years ago Ian Christie kindly gave me a small bulb of henricii. I was a keen but very inexperienced grower (nothing's changed there then!) and I didn't appreciate the value of this gift. The bulb was grown in a raised peatbed amongst dwarf (and not so dwarf!) rhododendron along with other lilies but over time they became swamped by an expanding
Rhododendron sargentianum. I lost interest in plants, the peatbed was neglected and eventually the surviving Rhodies had to be transplanted when our house was extended. The transplanted Rhododendron sargentianum has gone from strength to strength and two years ago my wife found a small lily growing through it. I assumed that the lily was a wayward lankongense from a nearby colony. Last year it produced a flower bud which was accidentally lobbed off by a trailing power cable. This year's growth produced a single pale pink flower bud typical of lankongense ......so imagine my surprise and delight when the flower opened.
Many thanks Ian!
