Lilies are a summer highlight in the South. You find them in the stately gardens of Natchez and New Orleans, Weatherford, Texas, and even southern Florida.
Their wide adaptability is illustrated by the varied locations in which the annual shows of the North American Lily Society are held.
This year, the show was at Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Next year, it is slated for Madison, Wisconsin, and in 1961, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is earmarked for the show.
Introduction To Lily Gardening
Lilies have a wide flowering season. They resist pests and diseases and tolerate adversity—even summer heat.
They like slightly acid soil that is well-drained and porous, but if you cannot give them this in garden beds, they will be happy in raised beds or tubs filled with a good soil mixture.
Lily Varieties For Southern Gardens
The varieties that do well in the South and other parts of the country originated either through hybridization or as the result of selection from wild lilies grown from seed.
When the lovely Lilium formosanum is grown from seed, it produces distinct forms of various heights, flower sizes, and blooming seasons. Through careful intercrossing of selections, these traits can be accentuated and perpetuated.
An amateur gardener in St. Louis originated the extremely tall, late-flowering Wilson strain in this way and it is a fine one for southern gardens.
Price’s Variety, a low form of L. formosanum, is perfect for borders and cutting.
Crossbreeding Lilies For Customization
If you grow L. formosanum or any of its selections, you will find crossing a few choice plants interesting.
Note which traits are dominant, and then try to mold lilies to your pattern. You need not wait long for results since L. formosanum and its varieties flower in less than 18 months from seed.
Another species of proven merit in the South is L. longiflorum. Several distinct varieties of it are available, all popularly known as Easter lilies.
Recently, a new tetraploid form was developed at the United States Department of Agriculture experiment station in Beltsville, Maryland.
It is superior in size, substance, and hardiness to the older longiflorum varieties. Like all the lilies I have mentioned, it requires little care, and you can leave it undisturbed for several years or until it is crowded by natural propagation.
Lily Species From Different Regions
Other species of even greater beauty are the highly colorful L. speciosum rubrum and Japan’s glorious gold band lily.
The latter, L. auratum, is now available in a stronger, wider-leaved type, L. auratum platyphyllum.
Use these lovely lilies from Japan only if thoroughly acclimated American-grown bulbs are available. These will do well in the South if they have a good root system and are in fresh, plump, and vigorous condition.
From China come equally valuable species for American gardens. The well-known L. regale, a truly regal plant, is the most popular lily in this country. Now, a rich yellow form of it called Royal Gold is readily available.
It grows like L. regale, and its golden-yellow color adds a gay note to the summer border.
The new trumpet lily hybrids are larger, more majestic, and of far greater beauty—the Olympic, Green Mountain, Pink Perfection, and new Emerald strains. All of them have done well in many gardens of the South.
Ubiquitous Tiger Lily
From China, too, comes the ubiquitous tiger lily—one of the parents of the colorful Mid-Century Hybrids that count seven other species among their ancestors.
Outstanding characteristics like hardiness, vigor, and brilliant color were bred into the hybrids from these ancestors.
Prosperity and Destiny show L. Amabile’s luteum parentage in their lovely yellow color.
Others, like Enchantment, Tangelo, Harmony, and Joan Evans, show more distinct tiger lily traits. They flower during May and June in the South.
Fiesta Hybrids
The cheery Fiesta Hybrids result from crossing L. Amabile with L. davidi and related species.
They flower in June and July and come in mixed colors, purest lemon yellow (the Citronella strain), burgundy, and bronze. All have a high potential for southern gardens.
Golden Chalice Hybrids
For May, flowers over most of the South are the lovely Golden Chalice Hybrids—upright, cup-shaped lilies that range from soft lemon and canary yellow to the warmest gold.
They descend from Chinese and Korean upright-flowering species and are extremely hardy and easily grown. Combine these strong-growing lilies with dark blue delphinium for a spectacular effect.
The exciting new hybrids of L. speciosum and L. auratum are of surpassing beauty but are a little more expensive than some other lilies.
Potomac Hybrids
The Potomac Hybrids—raised by the U.S.D.A., the first American hybrids of this parentage—will soon be on the market. Already available from this cross is the lovely Jillian Wallace of Australian origin.
The famous Empress of India, Empress of China, and Empress of Japan are newer series exhibited at Lily Society meetings in recent years.
When L. japonicum, an early beautiful pink, is added to the offspring of these crosses, a further range of characteristics results.
Southern Gardens With Lilies
In this way, new colors, new forms, and new flowering seasons are introduced to these magnificent garden lilies. More importantly, new vigor, tolerance, and hardiness emerge through hybridization.
These new hybrids are more adaptable to new conditions and promise to be most useful in southern gardens.
Different colors and types are found in the famous Aurelian lilies hybrids between two robust species, the nodding orange L. henryi and the trumpet type, L. Leucanthemum.
The hybrids come in true trumpet types:
- Golden Clarion strain
- Flaring types, like the Sunburst strain
- Bowl-shaped flowers, like the Heart’s Desire strain
The color range is extremely wide— from pure white to deep golden-yellow, including fuchsia-pink, salmon, ivory, and lemon.
These hybrids have tremendous vigor and are well adapted to various conditions in hot, humid gardens or even hotter but drier ones.
Several lily species from Burma and Nepal have been tried in the South and hold great promise. The lovely Nile-green L. Nepalese; soft pink L. wardi; tall L. taliense, and sweet-scented L. lankongense are readily available.
They should be further tested to discover their tolerance to garden conditions over a much wider area.
From them and crosses with other lilies, like the Mid-Century Hybrids, there will be other selections to grace southern and northern gardens from May to November.
Image:
The Aurelian Hybrids grow in hot, humid gardens and do equally as well in areas where the climate Is drier.
44659 by Jan De Graaff