Lily love comes back to life

This asiatic lily is a perennial, which means it's a flower that seems to die, but is actually hibernating for a period and then emerges each spring renewed with new growth and blossoms. I bought this lily last summer when it was brilliantly blossoming without realizing it was a perennial, so after all the flowers fell off and the stems browned and died, I thought I had destroyed it. Luckily I didn't trash it, but just set it out of sight on my patio. I was sad and embarrassed to have murdered the sweet little plant! This was last July, and just recently in February I happened to noticed something green behind a table on the patio and was ecstatic to discover this little gem had come back to life with new stalks and full bright leaves. At that point I realized I had a bulb perennial and paraded it around the apartment trying to get my boyfriend to understand the treasure I had just discovered. I am excited to see what color the blossoms are; I remember them as yellow, but cannot quite remember so it will be a nice surprise this spring.

April update: it's looking like a shade of purple.

Symbolism
I have found a lot of meaning related to the Christian religion - the lily representing purity, chastity and innocence. The Virgin Mary is often seen with white lilies, and the ones that have 3 petals are thought to represent the holy trinity. In other sources I've seen the flower related to sexuality and fertility, mainly because of the phallic pistil that protrudes from the center of the flower.


















4/27/11: Aha! it has blossomed, the color mystery is solved.