Lilium Broken Heart

The 'Broken Heart' Double Asiatic Lily is a recent variety that combines many qualities. It has spectacular flowers with numerous thick petals, in a nuanced shade of candy pink with hints of paler pink, highlighted on the inner petals by a beautiful blood-red middle line and speckled with purple towards the throat. They are double, even triple, 20 cm (8in) wide, and smell wonderful. This variety embodies the epitome of romance and refinement, combined with unparalleled generosity that allows it to produce up to 10 flowers on each of its very sturdy stems. It is a robust and easy-to-grow plant, simply excellent in flower beds or as cut flowers.

The 'Broken Heart' Lily is a deciduous bulbous plant, with a narrow and very vertical clump-like habit from spring. It belongs to the lily family. This plant will reach 80 to 90 cm (32 to 35in) in height when in bloom, getting stronger over the years, and the clump will spread indefinitely with time, as the bulbs produce bulblets through vegetative multiplication. The spectacular flowers bloom in July-August. Along the sturdy stems, up to 10 fragrant flowers appear, grouped in upright umbels. They are fleshy and waxy, overall candy pink but washed with very pale pink at the centre of the petals, which is highlighted by a red median line, wider and more vividly coloured on the 3 inner petals. At full bloom, small pale yellow-green areas speckled with purple can be seen near the throat. The uniqueness of its flowers lies in their extreme doubling; 3 or 4 rows of petals overlap in a staggered fashion, surrounding a small central corolla of 3 candy pink petals. The stamens of double-flowered hybrids do not produce pollen. The stems are covered with alternate, medium green, narrow and shiny leaves.

This lily prefers humus-rich, neutral to slightly acidic, well-drained and light soil. You can plant it with perennial plants or small and sparse bushes such as dwarf maples or deciduous azaleas, as it appreciates having shade at its base and the other plants will help prevent the stems from bending in the wind. 'Broken Heart' pairs well with paniculate gypsophila, daylilies, chamomiles, and Coreopsis, as well as roses. The lily is ideal for borders and, of course, for bouquets.