Lanzhou Lily. Heard of it?

My hubby was near an Asian market yesterday so I sent him in to look for interesting taro, tubers, etc. He found a package with four bulbs called simply "Lily Bulb". These are edible and supposedly the only ones with a sweet, nice flavor. That said, I sent him shopping in said Asian market to find stuff to grow. LOL I did some research and found that this lily is grown in some special location to give it this nice flavor. I want to find out what it would look like in flower. Has anyone ever see or heard of it? I am going to plant them to see. I have no idea if they have been treated so they won't sprout. They are sold refrigerated so I guess they have been wintered somewhat. Here goes..... Let me know if you have ever planted them or seen them. :)

I guess everyone is as clueless on this one as I am. I am going to plant them and see what happens! Who does not love a good experiment? LOL

I did do a little checking the other day, Chelle. All I could find was that they are grown in Lanzhou and are might tasty. Guess they're not much interested in the flowers, huh?

LOL I guess if it's the only Lily that tastes good and you want to eat lilies......

Maybe if they would quit eating all the bulbs, they might know what a flower looks like. lol

ROTFLOL I think we know now why no one knows. :) How do they know which they are in the first place?

Hmm...good question! And you'll be just the one to educate the masses.

UNLESS....I eat them! LOL

I guess if they don't grow, you know what to do with them. Just can't even imagine.... sacrilege!

That is alright. I am getting even. I am buying up all the Chinese vegetables and roots and planting them for the sheer look of them! LOL

Cool! I have too much shade for a veggie garden, so it's fun to have other types of edibles around.

Ever tried Lavender flower cookies? Taste just like they smell.

This message was edited Apr 3, 2005 5:47 PM

I'm not eating them. LOL It's just elephant ears AND those will grow in part shade. :)

Okay, don't talk to yourself. I'm heading outside for a few.

Might be Davidii. I found some in the Victoria BC chinatown. Planted them and that is what mine are.

Very pretty, red reflexed.

Thank you! I went ahead and planted them and hope they will come up and bloom. I haven't seen any sign of growth yet. They were refrigerated when they were purchased.

Hey, Chele. Might want to check out the first half dozen posts of this thread ~ http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/502033/

Thanks Moby! I sent Jianhua an E. :)

Badseed,
Search google with 'Lanzhou Lily'.
Plenty of info on the lily and also the pictures.
Jianhua

Jianhua, I looked and looked and either never saw them or didn't realize what was posted was the actual flower. Thank you for your reply. :)

I noticed the other day that they have sprouted! Once the package was opened, they seem to discolor rather quickly so I wasn't too hopeful. The foliage is very thin and feathery. I'll keep ya guys updated on what/how they do.

Oh, dang! I swear I just saw a pic of it.....

LOL How soon they forget. :)

You wouldn't believe how long I've been searching the forums ~ aarrgggg! There was just some discussion about it, I think..... (banging head on table)

Keep banging your head on the table and we will not have to wonder why you can't remember anything. LOL

This is her botanical name. Try again, Badseed.
Lilium Davidii Var. Unicolor (hoog) Cotton

This is written by one of Dave Garden's members...

http://davesgarden.com/journal/d/t/Jianhua/99/

You may want to contact him

Thank you Jianhua. I realize I did not have the correct name. How do you prepare them for eating? They are not very expensive here and being that they are good for the heart and lungs, they would be good for my husband.

Thank you also kd. Interestingly enough, it belongs to Jianhua. :)

Did anyone consult a Chinese cookbook? Maybe Martin Yan?
Love the dialog between all you nice folks. I feel like I'm eavesdropping.

LOL Dive on in pirl. :) I'm just a big play baby. I'll grow anything once. LOL

Hi badseed: I do the same thing, glad to know others are willing to experiment. I like Pamela Harper, author of Color Echoes. She says if you grow the plant for the foliage and find you hate the flower to just cut it off. Amazing that I never thought of such a simple thing!

A recipe for you, Badseed.
Mix the cloves of the lily bulbs with dates, rice, green beans, redbeans, lotus seeds and peanuts to make into a sweet congee. We Chinese often have this kind of nutritious stuff as breakfast.
Kdjoergensen, wonder how you find my public diary?
Thanks for your link.

See, we don't need Martin Yan when we have Jianhua!

Yeah, but now I gotta go back to the Asain market to look for lotus seeds! LOL I guess I'll need more lily bulb too since I planted them. :)

Thank you very much Jianhua. Do you just toss them together like a salad? What does the word congee mean? This sounds very interesting.

The congee is a thick porridge.
Put all the stuff in a pot with certain amount water and boil for over one hour
till the stuff becomes sticky, and then add a little sugar. Ready served.

Thank you very much Jianhua. :)

I have come back to report my findings. :)

I didn't have much luck finding info on these or good pics. I have no idea how they are shipped, processed, how long they are stored, etc or the effects of the refrigeration. On top of all that, they sat on my counter for about a week while I figured out whether to eat them or plant them. LOL

The plants are only about a foot tall. I don't know if that is normal or from all of the above. The leaves are very dainty and grass like which of course could be normal or from the above mentioned process. They are cute though and the color is perky.

They really are small and dainty. I also just realized how old my skin it starting to look. LOL

Old? Gosh, those are cute little things! The flowers aren't bad either. ;)

I think they're adorable!
wonder if they are hardy?

I am not sure CC. Most of the info that I can find on them is in Chinese and it either does not translate well or I am just really, really blonde. LOL Okay, maybe I am not looking in the right places either. Hubby got them for me in an Asian market. The did go from being planted to blooming in a very short time. They are supposed to be the best flavored of all of the Lilium.

Good, you've got it.
I read in the journal 'China Flowers' saying each year the demand of LZ lily used for vegetable is more than 100000 tonnes. It is no hyperbole the local people live on the lily (make alot of money).
By the way, for 'the info does not translate well', my explanation is that the info is translated by mega, that is, by auto computer program. According to my study, up to now, Chinese & English translation via computer is at most 50% readable.

Hello Jianhua! Isn't it a cute little flower?

I never could get any kind of info that would tell me if it is hardy or what the size should be. Do you know?

It is really impressive to me that one type of flower as a food crop could bring so much money! I guess it really is not different than any other food crop, except that the flowers are so pretty.