Much that I anticipated several years ago in an article on the future of lily hybridizing has since taken place.
The article was based partly on my observations of events in the gladiolus world as early as World War I and was inspired by what I had seen at a recent North American Lily Society show.
The early cultivators of the gladiolus, though able to work with many species, were confined to a basic flower form in both spike and individual floret. In 1920, some thought the limit in hybridizing gladiolus had been reached.
But since then, so many new developments have been made that older varieties are now obsolete. Now, one hesitates to predict the future of the gladiolus.
In contrast, lily hybridists have many species and at least a half-dozen distinct forms of flowers and spikes to work with.
How can one even hope to predict the possible results of working with such treasures?
Inter-Crossing Species
For nearly a century, attempts were made to intercross species without marked results.
The few hybrids known, such as the Nankeen lily (L. testaceum), which is still in commerce, were generally infertile or, at best, would reproduce themselves only from the pollen of one parent; the plant resulting from the cross would be identical with that parent.
Many lilies were of weak constitution and were lost almost immediately. And even the introduction of the robust L. regale did little initially for the future of lilies except to sustain a wavering interest.
Progress in Coral Lily
But I am convinced there was progress in those days. Something was happening to the lily. For example, let me tell you about the first bulbs of the coral lily I ever saw.
They came from the fine old firm of John Lewis Childs and were so small that one hundred were packed in a single old-time matchbox.
Yet the lily enthusiast who received them was very pleased, saying he had seldom seen better bulbs. And I recall that they all flowered well the same year.
Today, this lily can be grown easily from seed, and in two years, the bulbs will be nearly an inch in diameter. Instead of giving one prodigious burst of bloom and then dying out, as was its early habit, it will flower and persist in an average garden.
The only conclusion that can be made is that over the years of cultivation, this Siberian native has lost its wildness. Nevertheless, casual selection has kept the best forms, and various strains may have been mixed to add vigor.
An early color variation still available, known as Golden Gleam, will keep its orange-yellow shade if grown entirely apart from the type, showing that proximity of other pollen does affect lilies, despite some feeling that they are generally self-pollinated in nature.
Fine Canary Yellow Form
A few years ago, Dr. F. L. Skinner gave us a fine canary yellow form of this lily called Yellow Bunting, and I can hint at further developments that will be announced soon.
I believe many other lily species have developed, like the coral lily. They, too, were wild plants originally. A few forms were grown in Europe for garden ornament and a few in Asia for food.
But not until interest in L. regale stimulated the growth of lilies commercially in America was any large number grown here from seed; in fact, even today, most Native American sold species are dug from the wild.
These native species are generally difficult to cultivate under garden conditions, which proves my point that only continuous commercial cultivation can allow these wild plants to become truly useful garden plants. A. D. Rothman of Rhinebeck, N. Y., is doing that with our native species.
While it is true that lilies are a bit difficult to cultivate, they are not impossible for any plant lover who will make some attempt to give them the conditions they need; strangely enough, these are not always the same conditions that they find in nature.
Culture Vary in Different Parts of The Country
Here in Vermont, shallow planting is the rule for most lilies, with perhaps a light summer mulch and a straw cover in winter; in the prairie states, it is common practice to plant lilies a foot deep.
And for that matter, how can one expect L. speciosum, for example, flowering in the North in August or later, to perform similarly in a section where it flowers earlier and where summers are longer and hotter?
Yet this lily is being grown successfully in both locations by those who attempt to meet its needs.
Basic Cultural Needs of Lily
The basic cultural needs of the lily are deep (at least 12” inches), fertile soil, good drainage but with sufficient moisture during the growing period, and a cool location.
If no cool spot is available, precautions must be taken to prevent high soil temperatures in summer.
Lily bulbs will withstand much drying out and still grow; an official of the United States Department of Agriculture once told me he bought a package of dried bulbs in a Chinese food store in New York City, where he raised a species unfamiliar to him. But that certainly isn’t recommended culture.
Grow and Hybridize Lilies
Over the years, a few dedicated souls from various parts of the world have continued to grow and hybridize lilies. As seed and information have been exchanged, both new forms and hybrids of old favorites have begun to creep into the plant lists.
The first L. amabile I ever saw came to me in the 1920s from Japan in a package of seeds labeled L. cernuum.
Twenty years later, I received another seed packet from an amateur lily grower.
This was labeled L. amabile luteum, and from it have come the many bulbs of the lovely yellow Turks cap I have grown. None have reverted markedly to the parent.
Trumpet Lilies
This is evolution and so, also, is the development of pink strains of the trumpet lilies. But this color development is found mainly in true hybrids between L. regale and other trumpet lily species, giving us the later and sturdier forms that are now so well known.
In France, M. Debras used two trumpet lilies and also the Turks-cap flower L. Henryi to give the world his Aurelian hybrids, while in New Jersey, Tom Barry made a direct cross between a trumpet lily and L. Henryi to produce his T. A. Havemeyer, which has huge flat flowers quite unlike those of either parent.
In Australia, a fortunate breeder, attempting to produce again the famed Parkman’s lily (which flowered briefly in America for the historian of that name) as a hybrid between L. auratum and L. speciosum, achieved a notable, sturdy variety now known as Jillian Wallace (shown on cover at bottom left).
On our own Pacific Coast, there is a group of growers and hybridizers whose work has already given us pink and yellow trumpet lilies; jewel-like forms of the martagons; crosses between the indestructible tiger and the equally easy and permanent candelabra or upright flowered group; and improved and healthier forms of older well-known species.
In Canada, Dr. Skinner has long been growing lilies to withstand his northern conditions, and a number of his introductions are now available; another Canadian, Dr. C. F. Patterson, has given us new lilies based on the beautiful lavender-pink L. cernuum, which withstand a prairie environment.
And, of course, one must not overlook Isabella Preston, for she was one of the first to attain results with the crossing of species previously believed to be impossible to combine.
Pioneer Lily Grower: Frederick H. Horsford
But, though I have already made my point, I would like to prove it again and, at the same time, pay tribute to the man who was America’s pioneer lily grower, Frederick H. Horsford.
To my knowledge, he made all of the crosses that have given us so many new forms in recent years.
He grew practically every species and hybrid available. Though he did not produce a single new lily that is in cultivation today, he did lay the foundation for the results attained by later hybridizers. Moreover, he kept alive an interest in lilies in this country.
And now, less than 30 years after his death, others have begun to reap from his sowing. In less than a lifetime, the wildling he so loved is rapidly becoming a true garden flower.
Some people charge that there are already too many varieties of lilies. This is not true. Only by introducing many forms from various sources can we hope to attain the easily grown, permanent, and disease-resistant lilies that will delight our eyes and flower the entire summer.
For the good will persist, and the poor will fall by the wayside.
More To Attain Than Color
There is so much more to be attained than just a change in the color of a flower. In days to come, hybridizing will produce trumpet lilies that will flower from late May to September and forms of the gold-banded lily that will blossom in June.
Lilies that now hang their heads will hold their blooms upright, just as upright forms have already turned their flowers outward and have become partly curled from their tiger lily parentage.
Giants we already have, towering 8’ and 10’ feet. Equally valuable for the small garden are sturdy erect trumpet types growing some 3’ feet high and holding their flowers so that the beholder can see their throats and inner markings.
North American Lily Society
And, of course, the breeders will attain in the lily effective resistance to disease and the ability to withstand adverse conditions if they disseminate and thus test the new introductions.
There is, of course, a catch to all this, best expressed by saying, “Let the buyer beware.” As always, there are people who are carried away by the beauty of a new seedling, and spend their enthusiasm in words.
Those who purchase extravagantly praised new varieties which have not been widely disseminated must do so with the same “fingers crossed” attitude with which they would buy a lottery ticket. Again, one may win—and again, one may not.
The North American Lily Society shows each July (this year was at Kingwood Center, Mansfield, Ohio, July 6-8) go all the best of the new introductions that can be flowered at that season. America’s lily enthusiasts, amateur and professional, gather to swap information and gain inspiration.
Any worthwhile new lily will surely appear on several nursery lists within a short time. But, for the other varieties, the reputation of the grower must be depended upon.
It is wise to buy from nearby sources whenever possible. Bulbs developed in your section or those that grow well for a producer in your area are most likely to do well for you.
De Graaff and West Coast Growers
I have not attempted to name all the hybridizers and growers whose work is worthy of consideration, and I hesitate to name the lilies that you should grow or the new varieties now available which I consider among the best.
I think one must learn what is best by trial. I warn you that, as with the man who found that picking up a skunk by the tail made the animal innocuous, you must learn by practice; some unhappy experiences must be expected.
Of the new lilies now widely disseminated, those from de Graaff and other West Coast growers must be always considered. The Mid-Century lilies will grow in almost any garden.
So, too, will the Olympic hybrids and, of course, the forms of these trumpet lilies, including the Aurelians, which vary from true trumpets to huge flat open blooms and come in shades of yellow and pink.
I am less enthusiastic about the forms developing from the native West Coast lilies as the Bellingham hybrids, but this is large because they are not entirely at home in the East.
These hybrids are magnificent, however, as anyone can verify who has seen the 50-odd flowered heads.
Japanese Lilies
Lovers of the Japanese lilies, which include the gold-banded and the showy (L. speciosum) varieties, will be glad to know that the strains now available and those currently being produced on the West Coast are excellent in themselves and also give evidence of being forms evolving under American conditions.
And while reports have not yet begun to come in from all over the country, it would seem that Jillian Wallace, one of these varieties, is as easily grown here as either of its parents and maybe even more amenable.
Lilies From Tom Barry’s T. A. Havemeyer
I have great hopes and a strong liking for a group of lilies originating from Tom Barry’s T. A. Havemeyer, which is now being disseminated as L. Barryi.
Derived largely from L. Henryi, these lilies flower later in the summer than the trumpet lilies and put on a magnificent show of huge flat blooms in every shade from white through green, soft yellow, and intense orange.
Stem support is usually a necessity for these lilies, but Alaska, a clone sent out some years ago by W. C. Horsford, closely related to this group, has a stem that easily holds up its 25 huge white blooms.
English Lilies
From Vermont and particularly suited to eastern and northern conditions are strains derived from a cross of L. Sargentiae and L. regale.
Sturdy but not too tall, with flowers held erect and produced over a long period, these trumpet lilies belong in the mixed border where they flower with the delphinium and the phlox.
In this strain are new developments in pink and yellow tints, penciled markings, or fully colored flowers that are indescribably lovely and as easy to grow as their parents.
One of these, L. x Winter Sunset, has already been given the Award of Merit of the Royal Horticultural Society of England.
This award has also been given to Barry’s T. A. Havemeyer and de Graaff’s Enchantment, indicating that American lilies can compete with the best, even the famous English lilies.
In the famed Stenographer series, new developments have come from Ottawa, Canada, of which the best seems to be Addington.
Dr. Skinner’s Lemon Lady is always liked, as is his Dunkirk, outstanding in its deep blood-red color. And his Helen Carroll delights everyone who sees the huge, flat, upright, soft yellow flowers on 10-inch stems.
Dr. Patterson’s Saskatchewan lilies are lovely, particularly his White Gold and Edith Cecilia.
They survive 30° and 40° degrees Fahrenheit and should be valuable for this reason alone. I regret that I cannot speak with authority about their ease of culture.
Oldest Know Hybrid Lily
Perhaps in closing it might be best to go back to the oldest known hybrid lily, still one of the loveliest plants grown, L. testaceum or the Nankeen lily.
As now being produced by one specialist in this country, it is so healthy and vigorous that for several years blooms that have been sent to England for the huge Chelsea Flower Show have won the highest honors and the interest of the royal family.
Images:
Nodding lilies, towering delphinium, and lush phlox set a summer mood of quietness and dignity in this relaxing garden spot.
Few flowers can surpass the splendor of a well-grown lily such as the auratum or gold-banded lily pictured at the left.
Lilies of low stature, such as the Fiesta hybrids, are very effective when used to face down a border of shrubs as shown below.
Along the walk of the cutting garden (right) belonging to lily hybridizer, Jan de Graaff, are shorter Mid-Century hybrids in the center and taller Lighthouse lilies at the right.
The sprightly Fiesta hybrids and the taller, stately Golden Clarion trumpet lilies are eye-catching in the border of rhododendrons and azaleas shown at the left.
44659 by Fred Abbey