The lillies of Christmas

 

Here in New Zealand, a perpetual joy of the Christmas season is the flowering of the regal lillies, (Lilium regale) commonly known here as Christmas lillies (natch). Fortunate us, here in the Southern hemisphere Christmas comes at midsummer, and no Christmas would be complete without the glorious fragrance of these beautiful flowers combined with the smell of drying pine-needles (from the tree) and whatever food is being prepared for the annual feast. We've had a large vase of them on the desk at work, and customers come in asking "what's that beautiful smell?". Lillies appear in force on the Christmas altar too, filling churches with their own particular incense.  The scent is such a part of a NZ Christmas, and one that evokes an instant trip down the nostalgic path of Christmas past.
My Dad used to grow them right at the end of our quarter-acre, in the shade of an ancient pear-tree in deep, rich soil created from years of leaf-mulch. Every year we would send a large bunch to Mum's church (Dad was an atheist, but didn't begrudge his lillies for the enjoyment of others).

 

Other lillies also arrive around the same time, usually just a little later. White Madonna lillies (Lillium candidum) are a nice reminder of the Annunciation, but I have a burgundy one in the garden which seems a lot more pagan. These also have a powerful scent.

 

 

 And last but not least, the Asiatic and Oriental lillies, of which there are many, many cultivars.