Belamcanda chinensis

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Blackberry Lily

I inherited this plant from a friend who moved from the area a couple of years ago, and I had not identified it until now. I haven’t grown many lilies or irises in my life, so I wasn’t really sure if this plant was an iris or a lily. I took some close ups of the blooms friday and googled ‘orange lily’ and looked through the images until I found the one that matched my plant. It turns out that this plant is actually an iris that has been classified as a lily. The botanical name is Belamcanda chinensis, and the common name most often used is blackberry lily because of the black seed clusters that it produces in the fall. According to the Univ of Wisconsin horticultural site, this plant can be easily started from seed, so I think I will try to cultivate more of them this winter in the greenhouse.