Lilies - Kings of Summer

When I step out my back door, waves of spicy scent eddy around me; my eyes are irresistibly drawn to the huge, satiny curled blooms of the lilies towering proudly over lesser perennials. Lily blooms are truly breathtaking; it's easy to understand why so many gardeners are gaga over them.

As if spectacular blooms and an intoxicating scent were not enough, lilies are also blessed with simplicity and endurance. Growing lilies is one of gardening's uncomplicated pleasures; plant them in the right spot in the right way and they'll reward you by multiplying and blooming prolifically for many years, relatively untroubled by pests and/or diseases. They don't need a lot of spraying or pruning or even feeding. Even propagating lilies is simple. No wonder lilies have been so admired for so many centuries. In fact, lilies have been symbols of royalty, religion and purity for over 4,000 years.

Lily Classification

Standards for the current horticultural classification of lilies have been developed jointly by the Royal Horticultural Society in Britain and the North American Lily Society; there are 9 divisions of Lilium based on the plant's ancestral or geographic origin and the form of the blossom.

According to Michael R. Evans and Ron Beck in "Production of Hybrid Asiatic and Oriental Lilies", the three most important groups for commercial potted plant and cut flower production are the Asiatic hybrids, which include such cultivars as `Jolanda', `Sunray', `Montreaux', `Dreamland', `Corsica', `Symphony', `Connecticut King' and `Orange Pixie'; the oriental hybrids, including such cultivars as `Star Gazer', `Sans Souci', `Casa Blanca', and `Journey's End'; and the longiflorum hybrids, which include `Nellie White', 'Ace', and `White America'. The longiflorum hybrids are produced primarily for the Easter holiday as a potted crop while the asiatics and orientals are marketed nearly year round as cut flowers and potted plants.

For the convenience of gardeners wondering which lily belongs in which division and when it blooms, here is the list of lily divisions as described by Joseph Hudak in Gardening with Perennials (Portland, Oregon: Timber Press,1985). Using this list, it's easy to have spectacular lilies blooming throughout your gardens and perfuming your house all summer, as I do.

Division 1: Asiatic hybrids (June)

The earliest flowering, these are further subdivided into (a) upright-blossoming, mostly stem-rooting, (b) outward-facing, mostly-stem-rooting, and (c) pendant, usually with elongated pedicels.

Division 2: Martagon hybrids (June)

Having the characteristics of L. martagon and L. hansoni, these have small, pendant flowers with recurved tips and are stem-rooting.

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