Aurora Pastel Lily Bulbs

Lilium Oriental Hybrid — Aurora Pastel. Some flowers are a colour. This one is a gradient.

Green at the throat, then shell pink, then a wash of pale blue at the tips, all of it translucent enough that the light comes through the petals and picks up the veins. Six to seven inches across, opening flat like a star, with dark stamens pinning the middle down so the pastels do not float away.

It looks best in the two hours before sunset, which is either a design feature or a coincidence. Either way, plant it where the evening light lands.

What you get

• Gradient petals: green throat, pink centre, blue tips.
• Translucent, veined petals that glow in low sun.
• Flat 6–7 in blooms, three to five per stem.
• Top-size 14/16 cm bulbs — flowers the first summer.
• Hardy to zone 4; grows well in a large pot.

How to grow it

• Plant: 3 bulbs to a 12 in / 30 cm pot, 6 in deep, in free-draining compost. Terracotta or a heavy pot keeps a 4 ft stem from tipping.
• Water: freely while growing, then ease off once the flowers fade and the leaves yellow.
• Light: full sun. Turn the pot every few days so the stem grows straight.
• Cold: hardy to zone 4 in the ground; in a pot, move it against a wall for winter.
• After flowering: feed once with a tomato fertiliser and leave the foliage until it dies back.

Shipped dormant and cleaned, 14/16 cm top-size bulbs. Dispatch in 5–7 working days, 8–25 working days in transit. Colour depth varies with soil, light and season — the first flower from a fresh bulb is usually the most intense.