Lily Review: The Many Faces of 'Lankon'

Row of Lankon near packing barn.

‘Lankon’ was the first of its kind to be offered to the garden market—bred from the Japanese species L. longiflorum  (Easter Lily) and the Chinese species L. lankongense  found in the alpine areas of the Yunnan Province. Now after two more years of field growing, she has become rather mysterious.

Breeding Background

Shown to the public for the first time at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show in London in the spring of 2011, ‘Lankon’ scored as one of the most popular exhibits at that show. Although L. lankongense was bred successfully in the past with other Asiatic hybrids and Asiatic classification type species, this was a first with the Easter Lily (L. longiflorum) and was made possible through embryo rescue under laboratory conditions. This is a process where seed embryos are removed from the seed capsule itself, and then is grown on in a test tube agar solution, because the seed does not contain enough endosperm to nourish the emerging embryo to the cotyledon (first leaf) stage.  (Popcorn—it is the endosperm that expands when “popped”.)

Range of individual flower colors in Lankon.

What is this?
The big surprise this summer as 'Lankon' began to unfurl, was that something genetically had changed. 'Lankon' was sporting many new and wonderful faces in our field and we quickly suspected that she might be a "Chimera". As this should not be surprising considering this is a cross that in nature would never have happened, it not only was surprising, but also is truly wonderful. No two stems are exactly alike, in fact, flowers on some stems can differ from each another as well. 

About half in our field have green nectaries.

There are flowers that are almost a solid purple, some are heavy purple on half the flower, and with lighter spots on the other half, and even barely spotted flowers. The great thing is IT ALL WORKS! They are beautiful together and the changing scene from one day to the next is eagerly looked forward to each morning.

So, what is a Chimera?

In mythology, chimeras are commonly represented as monsters sporting a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail.  In the Plant Kingdom, actual chimeras are typically a single organism (in this case, a lily bulb), composed of two genetically different types of tissue.  As in animals, botanical chimeras usually originate from the same zygote—an extremely rare occurrence most often due to mutation during ordinary cell division;  because the specimen has more than one type of genetic material in its make up, any viable seeds the plant produces will not be ‘true to type’.  Thus, the propagation of chimerical lilies can only be achieved through vegetative methods. B&D Lilies introduced it's first Chimera 'Janus' in 2012, which was the results of breeding work done by Len Sherwin of Hyatteville, Wyoming. To have another show up the following year is truly remarkable. Len named 'Janus' for the two-faced Roman god of “beginnings and transitions”.
 

Another Chimera, 'Janus', with more variances.

In over 30 years of viewing literally several million seedlings of various breeders, 'Janus' was only the third chimera that we at B&D had encountered. The first two that showed up in a bed of seedlings bred by the late Don Egger, were “sickly” appearing and were quickly discarded. 'Janus' was a chance seedling  raised by Len in the course of his life-long passion of hybridizing lilies, and was a first for him as well. We debated with Len the pros and cons before introducing ‘Janus’—unsure there would be any interest at all in this oddity.  We finally decided that the opportunity to share this novelty with other lily enthusiasts shouldn’t be ignored, and now it appears we may have a spontaneous Chimera in 'Lankon'.  

What will the bloom of 2014 and 2015 bring?  

What new secrets will 'Lankon' reveal?  We plan to propagate the most diverse flower forms, from the darkest purple to the lightly spotted creamy whites. Will they continue changing appearance as they mature, or will them tend to imitate their mother bulbs from which their scales were removed? Only time will tell as this is uncharted territory. If the deepest colored forms hold true in the next generation, then a new name will be a must for those selections. If they revert back to the 'Lankon' of yesteryear in the next few generations, then they will continue to carry the 'Lankon' name. We love what we do, now completing our 35th year with Lilies, and it is the little surprises like this that add to our wonder and love of the genus Lilium.

Color differences in Seed-grown Trumpet Lilies

Lilium regale variance

Some lilies are known as "Strains", having been grown from seed for diversity and low cost production.  The second or third year will find bulbs that have divided on their own, plus the grower may plant back any stem bulblets produced in that time, adding several "Clones" to the group. Over time, the strongest and most eager bulbs will dominate.

Lilium regale

The white lily pictured is Lilium regale, the top photo shows a young stem,  in the 2nd year of growth from seed.  The two bottom photos are part of the mix and  even if they had been grown from the same pod, there can be slight differences in the petal "reverse" color.  Although a particularly warm summer may fade the pink coloration so that it almost fades away, these two were grown side by side in the same row.

Yearling bulb from the 'Golden Splendor' Strain

Heirloom Trumpets
The highly scented 'Golden Splendor', 'Pink Perfection' and 'Copper King' are all lilies that were at one time "clones", meaning each bulb was genetically alike and without variance.  The seed stock that produced them was from a group of trumpet lilies purchased by Jan DeGraaf in the early 1960's from Mr. LeVern Freimann of Bellingham, WA. 

Yearling bulbs from the 'Copper King' Strain

Further refinements
Jan de Graaf crossed the most promising seedlings back and forth until finally producing a reliable and uniform group of lilies that did show some differences between the flowers, but had very similar colors.

'Golden Splendor' Strain were the yellow to gold trumpets with a pink to brown petal reverse.  'Moonlight' Strain had  green petal reverses, 'Copper King' Strain tended to be yellow-melon to orange with a dark reverse and 'Pink Perfection' Strain was in all shades of light to dark pink to near purple.


All of the old-fashioned Trumpet flowers, except for those of 'Golden Splendor' and 'Moonlight' Strains tended to fade after a few days in hot, direct sun.  The darkest pink to purple clones made up the 'Midnight' Strain, which still would become lighter with age, but overall remained the most colorful of these older lilies.

The original clones were kept for seed production, under number, and were not released.  After Cebeco Lilies of Aurora, OR - now gone as well - purchased all the breeding stock, a few of the important breeding clones (seed parents) were finally made available to other hybridizers.

Tiny white edge on a seedling, will it fade away?

Making new selections
Currently, it appears that all of those important seed parents have now been lost for commerce, but when individual seedlings showing the original genetic characteristics are found, they are tagged for future use.

For example, the purple seedling on the right had a tiny white edge upon first opening, something that could easily be missed during a quick inspection.  Will it's overall color fade quickly in the sun because the layer of color is thin or will it be lighter next year?  Those are questions that need to be answered before a selection is made for further study.  This particular plant was tagged, because even though the edge disappeared, the dark purple color muted to an evenly shaded, dusty lavender-purple and the overall shape of the flowers was quite pleasing.  Only another two years will tell how tall the mature stem might be.

Future availability
Although general mixes of 'Golden Splendor' Strain and 'Pink Perfection' Strain are offered from time to time, 'Copper King' and 'Midnight' are being slowly increased and will not be available again for another year or two.  The brighter colors of all these old-fashioned Trumpet lilies are best shown in the highly acidic soil and cooler summers of the Western States, in the more alkaline areas of the Midwest and East, colors will not be as intense, even during cooler summers.  For the Midwestern states, we recommend 'Eudoxa' for melon color with shorter, sturdier stems, and 'Bellsong' for a good, heat-tolerant pink.

 

Lily Bulb Review - 'Gizmo' (Easter x Oriental)

This photo will be on the cover of our Fall 2013 catalog.  

 

One of my favorite pure white lilies, and the best white to come along in years, 'Gizmo' is a hybrid cross of the familiar white Easter Lily found in stores in spring and selected Oriental Hybrids.  (Easter weekend reminded me that I'd forgotten to publish this post.)  

Bigger in flower size than 'Casablanca', more tolerant of heat, and with a stronger stem to hold up its heavy flowers, this impressive variety is a good choice for areas with warmer summer temperatures that may cause heat stress in purebred Orientals. 

Blooming later than many OT (Orienpets) 'Conca d'Or' and 'Flashpoint'—two of my other favorite lilies—and most of the Orientals like  'Siberia', 'Star Gazer', 'Muscadette' and 'Acapulco', it makes a good "end of season" show in my garden.  Scent is more akin to Orienpet Hybrids, not the sweeter, spicy scent of 'Casablanca', but it's not overpowering and doesn't become obnoxious to the senses after 10 to 14 days of indoor floral use. 

'Conca d'Or' in the garden.

Officially, bloom time begins mid-July and the first year average height is 3 feet or more, but last summer's bulbs were still blooming at the very end of August due to our wet, cold summer and were pushing 5 feet tall in our southern field.  In the garden, with light shade, stems can be 6 feet tall the second year, so give them room to reach for the sky—no low overhanging branches.

"Flashpoint'

A note to consider however is to be sure and place enough soil over the top of your bulbs when planting, because this baby will make a terrific amount of stem roots in even average soil.  In fact, our crew tends to groan whenever there is a block of 'Gizmo' in a row during harvest, because they are far more difficult to process while bulbs are cut free from stems.  We wait until lily leaves are turning yellow to dig, indicating that the bulbs are mature and firm enough to harvest, but even with matured leaves, the 'Gizmo' bulbs are rock solid and will not "let go" easily. 

Luckily, we do not plant all bulbs of a single variety in the same field because they need to be scattered throughout the farm to make the early fall harvest easier.  We only dig what is needed during the rush in October to fill orders.  The rest of that fall harvest is actually finished up in winter, often up to Christmas week, weather permitting, for the spring catalog and early Flower and Garden shows.

Pollen-bearing anthers.

Plant in a triangle of three bulbs for best effect, but space them at least 10 to 12 inches apart.  This wider spacing will allow the stems to fully show off the flowers without crowding.  Because the flowers are white and if you are using overhead irrigation, you might wish to pick off the pollen-bearing anthers when the flowers first open to avoid yellow stains on the petals. 

See how the anthers are beginning to open up in this closeup of 'Purple Lady' and that you can actually see the individual pollen grains beginning to dry?  Simply pull anthers off with your fingers before they begin to unfurl. (Our oldest son called these "antlers' when he was 4 years old, much to the surprise of garden visitors.)

P.S.  If entering a stem in competition, pick just as the bottom flowers are starting to open and do not remove the pollen or you will most likely lose points during judging.  Do not cut more than 1/3 of the leafy portion of the stem though, lilies need their leaves to rebuild the bulb for next year's flowering.—Dianna

Flat Lily Stem with a hundred flowers... What's up?

Photo by customer G.P. (Brier, WA)

What a shocker - look at the number of buds! 

A lily which was "normal" during the last bloom could have four times (or more) the number of flowers on a strange looking flat stem in a given year.  No, it's not a mutant, just the product of a set of circumstances that only happens perhaps to one in ten thousand lily bulbs in a given year.

Theory is, the plant may have been in the process of dividing into 2 separate bulbs but just the right conditions - usually stressful weather (too hot or too cold) - may trigger this phenomenon.  The closely spaced flowers will generally all open, even so tightly packed together but chances are that next summer this lily will once again be a normal stem.

Photo by customer G.P. (Brier, WA)

See the little bulblets with tiny stems emerging from the base of the lily?  Don't "weed" them out because in two to three more years they will be blooming size.  Grown to maturity, there is no guarantee that they will also exhibit this flat-stemmed curiosity in a given year, but who can turn down "free bulbs"? 

Double-flowered Lilies - Some that are natural, and some not.

Cocktail Twins (Asiatic)

 The typical Lily flower is 6-petaled (more specifically, 3 petals and 3 sepals), in recent years however  hybridizers have selected out clones that genetically favor extra petals formed in the middle of the flower fusing together the filaments and anthers (pollen bearing part) together into sort of a "petaloid" crest.  Some varieties like 'Cocktail Twins' (Asiatic) have just an extra fluff in the center, others like 'Miss Lucy' (Oriental) are more dramatic, with many full-sized narrow petals.

Catalog photo - most representative of the flower.

One of the problems of breeding such Multi-petaled Flowers is that most are sterile - they do not produce pollen to use on another double flower - and the breeding records from hybridizers are always closely held trade secrets. 






See the three different photos of 'Miss Lucy'?

'Miss Lucy' in a cool summer.

Hybridizer's promotion photograph

In a cool summer, it seems that more "green" shows in the center of the petal and in a "warm" summer the green coloration becomes bleached by the sun before even opening and is either not seen at all or is a very light shade.
 










The image to the right is a "promotion" photograph, probably grown under precise conditions in a greenhouse, then shot in a studio, showing perfect petals.

Not all double flowers from year to year are due to a genetic "flaw" as it used to be called.  Alternating warm and cold weather can produce doubled flowers on a temporary basis.  Usually, one one or two initial blooms on a stem will be multi-petaled, with the later ones opening normally, as the weather evens out.  There is even a variance from year to year on the named clones. 

The small Chinese Red flowers shown above are Lilium pumilum, the flower on the left is normal, the one on the right side has extra petals.  This is simply weather-related, not any type of mutation that will come back year after year.  The bulbs were left over from last fall and not "discovered" until we were cleaning out the big cooler in preparation for turning off the cooling for the summer, so they were planted very late (late June) and immediately started growing through a short period of warm weather (2 weeks), then back to rain, cold, hail etc.  Some of the stems did not even bloom, because they were planted too late to grow properly, the reason why we advise against planting lily bulbs after Mid May if it can be avoided.  L. pumilum is not available for sale this fall, but should be back for Spring or Fall 2013 planting, along with more Doubles from the Oriental and Asiatic lines. A couple other cultivars available for planting this fall are shown below.

'Little Yellow Kiss'

'Double Strawberry Vanilla'

Wahoo! Martagon Lilies are Blooming in the Garden

Lilium martagon x 'Mrs. R.O. Backhouse'

Martagon lilies are the first to bloom here on the farm, liking light shade in hot climates or full sun in cooler areas, they have a multitude of nodding "turk's cap" one-inch blooms that dance in the wind. Long-lived in nature, some beds in Europe are over 100 years old.  Growing best when undisturbed, they are lovely in dappled afternoon shade where the stems can elongate a bit while stretching for the light.  Butterflies and Hummingbirds love to investigate these flowers, so they are a good addition to the garden close to a window or near an outdoor patio setting.

Lilium martagon (most commonly found)

The old home of Mr. Jan de Graaff, early breeder of lilies in the Western USA and owner of Oregon Bulb Farms in the 1960's,  had a large colony of L. martagon 'Paisley Hybrids' and the pink species growing "wild" over the hill where the scraps from the fall harvest were discarded after sorting.  Damaged bulbs, broken scales, tiny bulblets, stems, leaves, roots and field "dirt" were allowed to fall freely off the conveyer belts for years directly into a deep gully where they quickly recovered to thrive in the light woodland shade.

Not surprisingly, the bulblets of Asiatic, Trumpet and Oriental hybrids never seemed to really make a foothold, but this was also in the very early days of hybridization, well before inter-specific hybrids like Oriental-Trumpets (OT or Orienpets) first made their appearance.  Based on our own compost piles of leavings at the edge of the field, it's possible that these relatively recent clones might have been just as vigorous under the same conditions if given enough natural rainfall.

Lilium martagon mature their stems early, so a bit of drought mid summer does little harm.  For years a small group of bulbs that were missed during harvest bloomed within the grass at the edge of our field.  That section of row had been turned into a tractor lane and was not watered more than by accident when the wind blew the wrong way.  By the time they we finally rescued the lilies, they had multiplied nicely and were given a "better" spot in the garden, which turned out to be too wet and the bulbs began to decline.  Case in point - go easy on the moisture-retentive materials like compost and manure and do not allow the soil to remain soggy for an extended period of time.

Lilium martagon album (variant)

These lilies appreciate humus if your soil is sandy, but do not use straight peat moss or commercial potting soil with peat as an ingredient because they like a slightly alkaline soil.  Well composted leaves from your garden -  or a nearby deciduous forest - mixed into the planting area is perfect or use as a "top dressing" in early summer.

Note the white "fuzzies" on the petal tips in the photo on the left and the leaf in the background?  This is pubescence and is not harmful, in fact, it may completely cover the entire bud of some varieties while they are still tightly closed.  This photo was taken in a greenhouse - a crowded one - and being so shady, the color came out a bit too "blue".

In the bottom photo you can see just how tiny the flowers really are.  This photograph was taken at 5PM just as clouds began to roll in and a few drops of rain were beginning to fall.  The color is true.

Tiny flowers on Martagon lilies

We only offer Martagon lilies in fall because they seem to settle in more quickly with cool temperature planting.  This spring we had reports of a few bulbs that were fall planted in the Eastern States, that started budding almost as soon as they emerged from the soil, one of the common problems with spring planted Martagons.  The crazy late winter/early spring weather - too warm too early - triggered bud set before the stems had a chance to elongate.  Next summer they will be normal.  The lilies on the right never seem to grow taller than 2 feet, but most Martagons reach 3 to 4 feet tall in full sun.

Choose a spot that will not be over run by other plants or shaded too much by trees when planting these special lilies.  They can be happy for a decade or longer in the same spot with regular weeding, fertilizer, and a bit less water than other lilies in late summer. 

Hail Damage on Lily Bulbs & What to do.

The lilies are growing very fast on the home farm despite the cold and wet weather for the past several weeks.  If it stops raining today,  Bob will spray fungicide because a few plants are showing the telltale brown spots of Botrytis on their leaves because we do not want the fungus to progress beyond just a bit of cosmetic discoloration. In severe cases leaves will turn brown and crispy and bulb growth stops because the lilies are not able to photosynthesize.   If  you grow Roses, spray your Lilies with the same formula should you be experiencing either cold and wet - or hot and humid conditions.

IMPORTANT:  If you have bruised leaves from a recent bout of sleet or hail stones - spray a good copper based fungicide ASAP - you might not notice damage right away, but the bruises will open the leaves to fungus.  Look for "wet-looking" darker colored spots on the leaves now; later if Botrytis occurs those spots will turn brown and have clear centers.  Cut off any broken flowers and DO NOT cut back damaged stems, you want to maintain as many leaves as possible, and even a leafless green stem will help to nourish the lily bulb this summer.

 

Our Fall 2012 catalog is expected to be in the office for processing within the next two weeks and we expect it will arrive in mailboxes by July 4th across the USA.  We have already uploaded most of the lily bulbs in that catalog to our website a few days ago, so you can have a sneak peek before it is mailed and begin plotting new acquisitions.

Fall 2012 Catalog cover

The cover photo is of a lily we trialed two years ago.  The original name was "Cooper's Crossing" but the clone was renamed "Easy Salsa" in Holland.  This is an Asiatic lily with NO POLLEN, which means as a cut flower there is no need to remove the anthers before bringing the stems indoors.  The blooms are 4 to 5 inches across and the color is simply outstanding in the garden. There will be a riot of color later this month because these bulbs are planted near Lilium pardalinum that tends to bloom about the same time and has already been uploaded because the stems are lush and loaded in buds.

Lilium pardalinum comes in all shades of orange.

Although not in the fall catalog, we expect to have Lilium martagon clones uploaded to the website in a few weeks as well.  When most of the fields in both Washington and Oregon are beginning to bloom, we count the stems to estimate harvest and if there are enough surplus bulbs after our propagation needs, those figures are uploaded to our office database computer and we begin entering orders into our system.

Click to go to Web-only bulbs - including 'Exhibition-size'

Did you see the 'Exhibition-size' lilies (Including 'Timezone' shown below) on our website?  Some of the stems this year are larger than a 25 cent coin and if the bulbs do not decide to "divide" due to a cool summer, they will be shipped this October - no need to wait until after our winter harvest to plant.

Order ASAP however, because if the bulbs do split instead of growing larger, the earliest paid orders are filled first with the big bulbs.  We can't glue two together to make more!

'Time Zone' - looking forward to July

"Tiny Piny" dwarf Pineapple Lilies

Terrific new varieties!  New shorter-growing Pineapple Lilies from New Zealand are coming into the USA this spring. This is the first year of introduction in North America and B&D Lilies is pleased to be able to offer four clones suitable for the garden or for smaller containers.  (Photo shows a standard sized cultivar in back for comparison.) Plants were bred from Eucomis zambesiaca hybrids and were chosen specifically to be shorter growing plus have beautiful colors.

Standard size - 'Katie'

Part of the intrigue of Eucomis is the little tuft of leaves on top of the blooming stalk, such as in this picture of 'Katie', a full size cultivar, which gives them their common name "Pineapple Lily".  Leaves are fleshy like a succulent, but sometimes have quite pronounced wavy-edged leaves that may even have an outline of pink for contrast.  Stems might be pink, brown or tan - with some species sporting large spots or mottled markings.

'Tiny Piny Coral'

Individual florets which make up the flowering stem open from the bottom up, like the stem shown in the front in this photo of 'Tiny Piny Coral'.  When all of the stem's individual flowers are open and have been pollinated by bees or other insects, the lower buds begin to set seed pods (or "berries") with large black seeds within.

'Tiny Piny Ruby'

Deep colors are very popular right now, both for true lilies and also Eucomis.  Most of the varieties with dark color foliage are very dramatic when they first emerge ('Tugela Ruby' and 'Sparkling Burgundy' for instance) but as the flowers begin to open the foliage lightens to green with just a hint of pink, somewhat losing the startling impact in your garden.  A compromise might be to simply use darker pink/reds so the color in your garden will stay more consistent.  Darker colored flowers also tend to have darker colored seedpods as well.

'Tiny Piny Opal'

'Tiny Piny Opal'  has an unique twist in that the flowers dramatically change color as the buds open fully and mature.

These new shorter growing plants generally only reach 8 to 10 inches in height with a spread of about 12 to 14 inches and so are perfect for diminutive gardens or small patios in full sun. 

Planting:  Cover the “Tiny Piny” Eucomis bulbs with an inch  of soil and keep on the dry side until top growth appears, then move into bright light and begin watering regularly. Keep soil slightly moist, not soggy to avoid rot. Use FRESH potting soil each year for best results. We have found that the high-nitrogen soil mixes sold in most “box stores” are not found pleasing to Eucomis and recommend you avoid them. The excess nitrogen tends to rot the bulbs. The soil product ‘Black-Gold’ has been very much to their liking here on the farm. Use a very low nitrogen fertilizer or mild balanced formula as you would for cactus.

Want to know more about growing Eucomis?   

We did a posting recently about Pineapple Lilies for late bloom have REALLY long-lasting flowers and Easy Steps Using Pineapple Lilies (Eucomis) in a Floral Arrangement using the standard height cultivars.  The new dwarf cultivars are too short for floral arrangements of any size, but make terrific container plants that stay in bloom just as long as their garden-planted, taller siblings.

 

Lily Review - Latest to Bloom - Lilium speciosum

Late July Aurelians  in a corner of the garden.

Mainstream "Lily Season" is Late June to early August in most areas of the USA and after a summer of these lovely ladies with their sweet perfume in the garden, it can be a sad day when the last blossom finally fades away.

Hybridizers work fast and furious on producing lilies that have the shortest "planting to bloom" cycle for the benefit of commercial cut flower producers, the reason so many fragrant lilies bloom all about the same time (July).  You can manipulate the bloom in the home garden by simply ordering bulbs for delivery in early May to have lilies flowering later, but you sacrifice height that first year and the second year they reset themselves to bloom with their siblings.  Putting lily pots in shade will slow them down for blooming as well, but can elongate the stems - however if you need your lilies to be slightly taller then this can work to your advantage.

July blooming - Paraguay OT Lily

Only available for spring planting  Lilium speciosum blooms reliably later than the Oriental lilies (the reason why they are rarely available for planting in fall) and still has a soft, light fragrance.  Climates such as the coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest or Northeast can see bloom well into September.   In warmer areas of the Midwest flowering times will be earlier, but will reliably follow the last of the spicy-scented Oriental or the perfumed Orienpets (OT), plus their fragrance will be more evident due to the warmer temperature during bloom.

The lovely graceful plants also do well in Southern States where winter low temperature usually do not go much below freezing for most of the winter.

L. speciosum is tougher to grow in short season Mountain areas because the plants bloom too late in the season to mature the bulbs before winter, but if you have a heated greenhouse, potted lilies can be easily moved under cover to ripen the foliage.

L speciosum album

Growing any type of lily bulb indoors without at least a ventilated sun room will not work however, lilies need a lot of light to grow well and daily breezes to strengthen stems and to hold up the heavy flowers. Because they do bloom later than the other Lilium, plant near the front of borders so the flowers can be fully appreciated.

Historical Note: In the early part of the 20th century, Rubrum lilies were prolific in Japan and grew wild throughout the country. Hirotaka Uchida was one of Japan’s most proficient farmers and Hirotaka’s personal pursuit involved the cultivation of exceptional Rubrum lilies; selecting the most beautiful flowers which showed the greatest resistance to disease. These exceptional lilies were then transplanted to a special field where he and his eldest son cared for them.

L. speciosum rubrum

When World War II began, many orchards were turned into potato fields. Although flower fields were politically discouraged, the Uchidas had such an affection for their special selections that while other flowers disappeared, their lily efforts continued. After the war, the Uchida family exported the first 60 bulbs of their crowning achievement: a lightly-fragrant, beautiful rose-crimson, spotted Rubrum which demonstrated exceptional hardiness.

By 1950, the not yet named ‘Uchida’ had received wide recognition for its resistance to virus. Six years later, it was officially registered as Lilium speciosum rubrum ‘Uchida’ (click name to see web photo) in recognition of Hirotaka and his son. In 1963, a gold medal was awarded to this lily at the prestigious Internationalle Gartenbau Ausstellung in Hamburg, Germany. ‘Uchida’ is well established as a true heirloom, to pass on in ever-increasing numbers from generation to generation to delight the senses.  Historical data obtained from the Ofuna Botanical Garden, Japan, where we obtained our first stock of this wonderful lily.

Try a trio to plant this spring because we are not able to dig the bulbs in time for fall delivery - and this is one group of lilies that  you don't want to overlook for your garden. 

Pineapple Lilies for late bloom have REALLY long-lasting flowers.

Eucomis 'Can Can' - facing East

Tropical-looking but Hardy

   Lovely succulent leaves with waxy florets on the stem open over a long period of time in the garden or as a cut flower - so long in fact that a quick rinse under the faucet might be in order to remove dust accumulation.  Other than artificial stems, how many other garden flowers need a light dusting - or a bath - every once in a while in the house?

To make an exciting floral display indoors, we cut the entire stem just as the bottom flowers are beginning to open, as shown to the left.  Unlike our regular lilies, there are no worries about the bulbs being damaged by cutting too much stem.  All of the leaves of Eucomis or Pineapple Lilies are produced from a whorl at the top of the bulb and the stem is delightfully bare, making cutting an entire flowering stalk just fine.  All the buds on the stem will open in turn from the bottom up, and then as the top ones open, the bottom individual florets mature into seedpods which are attractive on their own merits - extending the show by another 3 weeks or more.  In vases, water should be changed every few days to keep stems fresh and other flowers or greens replenished as needed, or desired.  Do choose a heavy bottomed glass or pottery vase because the weight and length of these stems can be rather imposing.  These are not flowers for the faint of heart floral designer - a floral arrangement involving Pineapple Lilies will demand front and center attention - not be content tucked into a corner. As a bonus,  the fragrance of some hybrids resembles a very light coconut scent.  (Our next Blog Post on Monday will feature a simple "how-to" Eucomis arrangement.)

Eucomis 'Rueben' - Aren't those "topknots" cute?

In our temperate maritime climate here in the Northwest corner of Washington State, our Pineapple lilies take 5 or 6 hard frosts into the mid twenties to finally flatten down the foliage and stop growth for the season.  At that point, if your area is colder than USDA Zone 6, to prepare them for winter you can pile a wheelbarrow load of shredded leaves at least a foot thick for an insulating mulch.   For assurance in very severe climates where the soil may stay frozen over a foot deep, dig the bulbs instead – cutting off the leaves just above the bulb top – and store them indoors at above freezing temperatures  and  “dry” over winter. 

Although our farm has copious amounts of rainfall/snow over winter, 50-75 inches of rain between October and April alone, alternated with normal freezes down to the low teens with an occasional single digit;  we do not mulch our Eucomis at all in the open field.  Our winter temperatures do not seem to harm the bulbs, but with our high rainfall the soil would stay too wet if we mulched the plants and the bulbs would certainly decay.

Eucomis 'Tugela Jade'

Eucomis 'Meguru' showing purple centers.

(Maturing too late to ship across country in the fall, these Pineapple Lilies will next be available in our Spring 2012 Catalog and Reference Guide.  You can read more about these amazing flowers on our Eucomis page on the B&D website

‘Conca d’ Or’ Lily Bulbs – Garden Review

Planted next to finch feeders and photographed in our display garden for their March 2003 issue, Sunset Magazine featured ‘Conca d’ Or’ for its garden worthiness.  Then as well as now, it has proven to be an outstanding lily and has spread its way around the world for long-lasting flowers and impressive stature. 

LATE blooming lily bulbs, 3 new hybrids

Many professional lily hybridizers in the past 2 decades have focused only on lily bulbs that bloomed early and were of a standard height for the cut flower market.  Lilies that bloomed late were ignored or discarded. As a result the gene pool has suffered from the lack of wide diversity that is important for creating unique varieties for the home garden.  (Varieties are shown above from left to right.) 'Goldfinch', 'Las Cerezas' (The Cherries) and 'Katydid' all bloom late, plus are tall - suitable as an accent plant in your garden. 

Bob recently visited hybridizer, Len Sherwin, in his home state of Wyoming to get a first hard look at the labor of love that Len has imparted for over 35 years to his garden lily selections.  Len worked a shipping season with B&D lilies 20 years ago, so our ties run back for many years.

Colors Shifting in Asiatic Lilies?

Lily petals are composed of several layers of color cells.  As the sun "bleaches" out the topmost cells, the color just below is revealed.  This is the reason why your blossoms might look slightly different daily or even vary somewhat from year to year.  Blossom color is influenced on how intense the sun might be during flowering.  This is especially evident with lighter pink Asiatic or Oriental lilies that could appear nearly white when opening during very hot weather.  In full hot sun the flower buds can be lighter than normal but the same cultivar in a shady area could be darker in color, even during the same summer.

'Halloween Embers' - Asiatic - Garden Review

'Halloween Embers'
This sassy little creature is well named. The petals are "Halloween" orange in color on the petal tips and the centers are very darkly shaded in our cooler Western Washington weather. The camera picked up “inky-black” as dark purple on a cloudless day when the temperatures finally hit 80+ degrees; in very warm climates the color should stay dark with perhaps a pronounced lighter purple "feathering" to the center.