Our half-acre garden has seen many changes in the 33 years we have been working on it.
When we moved out of the city, our thoughts were much the same as those of other new suburbanites—grow a lot of vegetables, have chickens, and let my wife have her little flower garden near the house.
A modern poultry house replaced the existing chicken coop, and for about 10 years, we raised baby chicks.
At first, we attempted everything from radishes to potatoes without much success. But in succeeding years, as we learned to select varieties for our shaly loam, we had better luck with the kitchen produce.
Oh yes, the little garden near the house seemed to be moving out into the main garden. My interest in flowers increased with every growing season and we planted more new flowers and fewer vegetables each year.
The chicken house was eventually disposed of, and two rather unproductive apple trees were removed to make room for the expanding flower garden.
First Lily Bulbs
We bought our first lily bulbs about 20 years ago. Some of the bulbs were from the counters of the five and ten-cent store and were of the usual species offered in those days—Lilium auratum, speciosum, henryi, etc., from Japan and L. candid from France.
No doubt others who had longed for the exotic beauty of the lily when they bought similar bulbs were as discouraged as we, for the plants either did not show up at all or died before blooming.
Lilium henryi, however, did grow well, and I believe that I still have the progeny of the original bulbs.
At about the same time, we purchased a few bulbs of L. regale, and my first experience with growing lilies from seed started with the regal.
Cold Frames
Cold frames, which had previously been used for starting vegetable plants and later for annual and perennial (lowers, were now used more and more to start lily seeds.
They also provided a satisfactory device for carrying young lily seedlings through to the second Fall, when they could be safely planted out.
By the late 1930s, we were growing so many seedlings that twelve cold frames were in operation, six for sowing new seed each spring, and six for holding over seedlings raised the previous year.
Some of these seeds were saved from my plants, but the greater part was purchased from every available source. The hybrid lily seed became available in many new combinations, and we grew more of these varieties and fewer species.
The generally available hybrids grown most at this time were SULPHURDALE, CREELMAN, CROW’S HYBRIDS, and PRIDE OF CHARLOTTE in the trumpet classes.
Some of these are still among my garden’s tallest and most vigorous lilies. The Martagon-Hanson hybrids were also popular.
Backhouse Hybrids
The named Backhouse hybrids, such as BROCADE and SUTTON COURT, are still expensive. They are greatly admired at flower shows.
The Stenographer series of hybrids, originated by Miss Isabella Preston of Ottawa, Canada, appeared at about the same time and has set a pattern for some of our more recent introductions, namely that of crossing reflexed and upright lilies, producing offspring that face outward.
Miss Preston’s lilies were developed from crosses of L. davidi willmottiae, a lily with reflexed blooms, and an unnamed seedling of L. dauricum, an upright flowering type.
How We Grow Seedlings
Although we still grow seedlings of the more common varieties in cold frames, our main seed planting is now handled much more satisfactorily in the greenhouse.
Seeds of the quick-germinating varieties are sown in flats during the winter and placed in the greenhouse with a night temperature of 55° degrees Fahrenheit.
All seedlings are raised hydroponically in this manner:
- Waterproof liners are placed in standard flats, and a 3/4-inch layer of hydrate is placed inside for drainage.
- A 3-inch flower pot is then set in the center of the flat, filled to within 44” inches of the top with vermiculite, concrete aggregate size.
- The seed is sown and covered with about 14” inches of vermiculite, watered through- the flower pot, and set aside to await germination.
Feeding Soluble Fertilizer
Nutrients are fed through the flower pot soon after the seedlings appear. A completely soluble fertilizer with trace elements should be used.
Care should be taken to keep the seed flat and moist, preferably on the dry side rather than too wet.
In the four years I have sown seeds in these sterile materials, I have never experienced any damping. If any other type of fungi appears, it can be quickly eradicated with a fungicide.
You are courting disaster if you plant lilies in soil that is not well-drained. Like most other bulbs, Lilies do not tolerate “wet feet.” And, although the majority of lilies are perfectly hardy, it is wise to mulch the Iimbs the first winter after they are planted.
Aurelian And Havemeyer Hybrids
The Aurelian hybrids and the Havemeyer hybrids are newer lilies we can recommend. No two seedlings of these fine series are the same, and a thrill is assured as each plant comes into bloom.
A few named hybrids of these plants have been propagated from selected scaled bulbs, and, of course, they will run true to type and color.
Until quite recently, lilies have been considered a most difficult plant to raise, and very few folks did succeed with them.
The lack of success was usually due to no fault of the grower but to the fact that very little high-class stock was available.
Very few lily bulbs were raised in this country in past years. We had to depend almost entirely upon bulbs from the Orient, which usually arrived with their vitality greatly impaired after such a long voyage.
Many were diseased from long periods of vegetative propagation. In addition, roots were generally removed before shipment, further weakening the bulbs.
But now, with new disease-free, seed-grown American bulbs, carefully packed and promptly shipped with cultural instructions and directions for incredible planting, almost any average gardener should have little difficulty with lilies, certainly no snoring so than with any other properly handled plant material.
Hunt For Native Lilies
Botanists and plant hunters have been searching for hundreds of years for lilies in their native haunts, sometimes in remote parts of the world and sometimes at home. As a result, some 25 distinct species of lilies can be found in the United States.
Most of these occur along the West Coast but do not grow well when domesticated in EastHowever, the gardens. The species that are native to the East seem to fare better in home gardens all over the world.
In 1949, Dr. A. W. Vollmer of San Francisco headed an expedition in California and Oregon with Drs. S. L. Emsweller and R. N. Stewart of the United States Department of Agriculture. They collected and shipped East some 55 batches of bulbs of 20 lily species and varieties.
The purpose was to determine whether these bulbs, properly dug, handled, and shipped, could be grown in the East when conditions were made similar to those in which they grew in the wild.
Dr. E. F. Rock’s expedition in China a few years ago has been much publicized. Though delayed somewhat by the interference of the Chinese Reds, many bulbs in his collections are now growing in American gardens.
Most Beautiful Flower, “Lily”
Less than a decade ago, the lily was “the most beautiful, but still, the least understood of our flowering plants.” This, no doubt, was one of the reasons for forming a lily committee within the American Horticultural Society.
In 1946 the North American Lily Society was organized to make available reliable information on the culture of the most stately garden plants. The membership in this society is now approaching 1,000 members.
Each year books are published, bulletins are issued, and the seed of otherwise difficult-to-obtain varieties and hybrids are made available to members at a very nominal cost.
Pamphlets on such subjects as “Growing Lilies from Seed” and a “Lily Growers’ Guide” have recently been distributed to members and sold through the society’s publicity department.
Popularity Of Lily
The lily’s popularity has been greatly enhanced in the last few years by the shows sponsored by the North American Lily Society. The first of these exhibitions was held in Boston in 1948.
Thereafter, shows were held in Washington, Buffalo, New York City, and Cleveland. The first Canadian show was planned for the next year in Hamilton, Ontario. The first West Coast show was held in Seattle, Washington, the following year.
These shows are held in most sections of the country in late June or early July when the most blooms are open.
We find that even some local flower shows, which formerly did not schedule lily classes, are doing so now.
The lure of growing lilies is just as great, if not greater, now than it has been in the past, but the challenge to some of us persistent souls has been, in part at least, eliminated. We know that our chances of success are almost assured with freshly dug, clean, seed-grown bulbs.
The thrill of viewing the new hybrids as they bloom for the first time is beyond anything that I could put into words, although there are many disappointments. But if only one or two new variations unfurl each year, it is more titan worth the time and effort we have put forth.
44659 by Warren L. Inskip