Few flowers have gained greater popularity in recent years than the many kinds of hybrid lilies. These glamorous bulbs, from the far corners of the world, in forms and colors that dazzle the eye, generally reach their flowering peak in July, though there are varieties that start the season off in June and continue into … Read more
About 10 years ago, I started with a half dozen varieties of lilies simply because I liked them. Fortunately, and by accident, that half dozen were in the trouble-proof class, and I met no difficulties until I was well grounded in lily culture. My original six varieties have grown until now. I have about 20,000 … Read more
In July of this year, the International Lily Conference, sponsored by the Royal Horticultural Society of England, met in London. Well-known botanists, plant breeders, and lily enthusiasts from around the world gathered to discuss the progress and development of this wonderful group of garden plants. They indeed had much to talk about since the first … Read more
Every summer, when my Speciosum lilies peel back their rough-textured petals, I wonder anew why enchanting a blossom should have such an unimaginative name and why its two variations should be labeled simply white and red. And I marvel, too, that this startlingly beautiful lily should grow so contentedly in my garden year after year, … Read more
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 … Read more
Most gardeners tend to concentrate their flowering plants and bulbs in perennial borders, and this is a natural tendency since that is what borders are for. However, when it comes to lilies, they are essentially plants best considered in terms of the overall garden, rather than as part of the border. Use them as you … Read more
Lilies have been grown in gardens as far back as the memory of man can truce, but they have been singularly resistant to the wiles of the hybridist until recent years. Up to the turn of the century, only two hybrids were known: Lilium testaceum and Francis Parkman’s ill-fated L. parkmanni. Over the past half-century, … Read more
One need not become a lily specialist to profit from adding lilies to his general garden scheme. Indeed, it is doubtful if any other group of flowering plants will add more interest and beauty to the overall landscape effect than a collection of lilies. They may be in bloom from June well into September. They … Read more
The popular expression, to gild the lily, means to attempt to improve something that is already perfect. Hybridizers, however, never believing that the lily could not be improved, have strived to produce finer lilies. Most intriguing is the long search for the pure yellow trumpet lily which has commanded the attention of many hybridizers. Starting … Read more
For what they are and what they mean to us, their beauty and symbolism, lilies have earned a place in our hearts. And, biased in their favor though I am, with more than a hundred acres of lilies to watch over and enjoy, increasingly, they seem to be taking their merited place in our gardens. … Read more