Lovely indigenous lilies for the garden

Text and photographs by Chris Clarke

Two local lilies – the Vanilla Lily, Arthropodium milleflorum and the Chocolate Lily Arthropodium strictum – are both beautiful plants that can be grown in gardens, on your verge, or in a container. Both are often available from indigenous nurseries, such as VINC, or Nangak Tamboree Wildlife Reserve nursery at Latrobe Uni. 

The Vanilla lily was rediscovered in the City of Darebin a couple of years ago: after an environmental burn on the banks of the Darebin Creek, in an area that had been covered by dense growth of Phalaras grass, nearly two metres tall, for many years!

    
Vanilla lily, Arthropodium milleflorum        

I’ve grown it successfully on my nature strip in Thornbury and its long arches of small white and purple flowers attract attention from neighbours walking by.  The flowers are stunning close up and look like rows of ballerinas – see photo. Like Dianella, these lilies both seem to be buzz pollinated by the small native bees vibrating to bring the pollen down the pollen tube. I’m interested in members’ observations on pollination of these plants.

Like the Chocolate Lily, the Vanilla Lily naturally dies back each summer after flowering and re-shoots in late winter from underground tubers. These tubers were a source of food for First Nations peoples.  You do need to watch out for snails and slug damage when the shoots are young, which is one reason why the plants can often be better in containers. I wait for a night after rain and get out with my snail stomping boots rather than use snail bait. Or you can use a barrier method to deter snails and slugs until the plants are big enough to fend for themselves.

They are not quite as hardy as the Chocolate Lily, so I find the plants respond to some additional watering if it is dry in Spring. Individual plants can become quite big clumps if looked after. They should last three or four years and even self-seed in the garden. I haven’t been able to distinguish the vanilla scent of the flowers myself. Apparently, early on warm Spring days is the time to try.

I’ve only grown Chocolate Lilies in pots, but they flower well. They are best included in a mix of other indigenous plants or en-masse in the garden, as they can be quite leggy to 1 metre tall. They are a stunning blue, verging on purple, and look great in large patches in the wild. Many of the same features apply as for Vanilla lilies, such as dying back in summer, watching out for slugs and growing from tubers. They are more tolerant of a dry position, but like a good spring rain. I’ve divided tubers in early autumn to successfully grow more plants. You can also easily grow from seed, once the seed capsules darken and mature. The scent of Chocolate lilies on a warm day is much more obvious to me and is truly “Cadbury”.

Chocolate lily, Arthropodium strictum

To complicate matters, there is also another local Chocolate lily. The smaller Arthropodium minus (photo from the western plains at Iramoo) is still found on the Merri Creek at Craigieburn, and recorded on iNaturalist. I haven’t grown it. It looks like a lovely small container plant and is on the list at Latrobe Indigenous Plant Nursery.

Chocolate lily, Arthropodium minus

More to explore:
Merri Creek flora and planting guides
iNaturalist