Lilium martagon - the beauty of a Lily

Just in case ipernity does not continue, I and all my photos can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott.

I love Lilies and was happy to find two flowers to photograph when I visited the Reader Rock Garden on 27 June 2017. The sun was shining and, for the first time in quite a while, it wasn't windy, just a very slight breeze. I used to love going to this garden, usually after I had been volunteering in the same part of the city. Since I stopped volunteering (after a volunteer 'career' of 37 years!), I haven't been going. Two days ago, I decided that I had better go, or the plants would be in seed before too long. As it was, most of the lily flowers were either dead or on their last legs and no good for photographs.

"Lilium martagon (martagon lily or Turk's cap lily is a Eurasian species of lily. It has a widespread native region extending from Portugal east through Europe and Asia as far east as Mongolia.

The flower colour is typically a pink-purple, with dark spots, but is quite variable, extending from near white to near black. The flowers are scented. Numerous flowers are borne on each plant, and up to 50 can be found on vigorous plants.

Lilium martagon, like many in the genus, is highly toxic to cats and ingestion often leads to fatal renal failure; households and gardens which are visited by cats are strongly advised against keeping this plant or placing dried flowers where a cat may brush against them and become dusted with pollen which they then consume while cleaning." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilium_martagon