I do most of my lily buying and planting in the fall, but I might succumb to temptation yet.

Hi Alina,

Brent & Becky's spring selection is on the web now, as is The Lily Pad's.

I'm looking for Longiflorum oriental hybrids that bloom early, (some bloom at the longiflorum time and others closer to the oriental). I want to extend my season of fragrant lilies earlier than the trumpets and orientals.

Dutch Gardens has "Elegant Lady" this spring (its been hard to find - I think some growers have discontinued production of it). It has the classic easter lily shape with a beautiful pale pink color with pearl like sheen. Last summer here in Baltimore it started to bloom June 2. I originally bought this from Brent and Becky's. Lets hope the Dutch Garden bulbs are OK. (I do have some offsets from my bulbs growing - but I'm impatient.)

Brent and Becky's is offering a new LO, "pink heaven". Its blossoms have a more oriental influence to their shape and are a medium pink. Their website lists its bloom time as early summer. I found some UK sites with much more attractive photos of it then the one on B&B's site. It's looking very tempting!

The real challenge will be to squeeze them into my limited garden space. :)

-Helen

Hi Helen,
Did you see the selection of LO Lilies from the Lily Pad? They are somewhat cheaper than at B&D, but their 'Prince Promise' looks completely different than on other pictures. I asked a salesperson why it is so different from the other sources' pictures. His answer puzzled me a little. He said that they probably used different strain. Aren't plants sold under the same name supposed to be genetically identical? Anyway, I ended up ordering both from B&D and Lily Pad to compare. In fact, I have ordered all LOs Lily Pad offers except 'Triumphator'. I spent too much already for my spring orders and decided to wait for the Brent&Becky's spring sale to order 'Triumphator', some expensive Callas and more lilies.
BTW, how it performed for you last summer? As far as I remember you also bought it late.
Helen, LOL, you have limited garden space - I do not have garden at all :-)
Alina.

Hi Alina,

Some lilies (like the trumpet "pink perfection") are strains and can be variable, but I was under the impression that most of the LO's are produced asexually. I believe true LO's are sterile, but many lilies called LO are actually LLO's (an LO backcrossed to a Longiflorum) and may be fertile. Prince Promise and Queens Promise are both longiflorum crosses with Pink Promise (an LO). Ask them if their "Prince Promise" is a De Jong lily product. It may also just be variability in the photos. I looked at their photo and the De Jong photo (on The Lily Nook's website) and they look pretty similar - considering that the lighting was very different in each. The B&D photo looks more different, but its taken at a very different angle - so who knows? To make things more confusing some of the big dutch places (Mondeil) will list the LLO's and LLA's that look more longiflorum like in their bloom placement and shape under just "Longiflorum". The fact that they're colored is a dead giveaway to their interspecific hybridization.

The Triumphator bloomed nicely for me last summer even though it was planted late. It bloomed towards the end of July which may also be late for it normally. I'll see when it blooms this year - now that its clock has been reset.

If you're planting in pots the LO's should work nicely. They don't get too tall and have nice strong stems and good foliage.

-Helen

Helen,
In this case it is not a variability in the photos. I sent them these links:

'Prince Promise' (Lily Pad)

Picture 1

'Prince Promise' on pictures 1, 2 and 3 looks quite similar. The Lily Pad guy I talked to said that he sees what I mean and their strain(?) does look differently, as their picture shows - petals are more elongated and the color is solid light pink. Well, anyway, I will see the difference myself this summer :-)I will post pictures of both "strains".
I do grow my lilies in pots, but I plan to plant them in the garden eventually - we are looking for a home right now.
Helen, you helped me and other newbies so many times, I really appreciate your expert opinion. And you are so right about pictures and dutch sellers. For example, Mondial uses the very same picture for OT Albany and OT Explosion on their Web site :-)))

Hi again Alina,

I think I may have solved our mystery, or at least have it down to one of two possibilities. If you go to the "Mondial lelies" website's LO page, they have pictures of "Pink Promise", "Prince Promise", and "Queens Promise". As I noted before Pink Promise is an LO the other two are LLO's derived from longiflorum backcrosses to Pink Promise. So they all look similar to each other but Pink Promise, being 50% oriental has a much wider spread of its petals while Prince Promise and Queens Promise, being only 25% oriental, have a more trumpet like shape - with a little oriental flare towards the ends. The Pink Promise also seems to be a more even pink color (as much as i could tell from their photo).

So, either the Lily Pad got sent the wrong photo by their supplier, but has the right (i.e., Prince Promise) bulb. Or, they have the right photo for the bulb supplied (i.e., both Pink Promise) but an incorrect name on their listing.

They're are bothvery pretty so you can't go wrong. But let us know when they bloom which one you got!

Thanks for the compliment, but I'm no expert, just an enthusiast (which is a nice way of saying lily addiction) who likes to look stuff up. :)

-Helen
http://www.mondiallelies.com/lilies.php?ID=544

Here is a link that might be useful: Mondial LO page

Helen, your second suggestion might be correct. That guy told me that they had field trial, and their so called 'Pink Promise' looks like the one on their picture. Thus, they are selling the 'Pink Promise' under the name 'Prince Promise' probably. I do not mind to get them both, one from the Lily Pad and one from the B&D. The sad part of this story - you can get wrong variety even from the reputable vendor. I almost bought the 'Calvados' Oriental lily from B&D because I liked the picture and description of it. Guess what? They moved this picture and description to the 'Rio Negro'! Besides, all pictures from sellers' sites are so badly "doctored". That's why I always love to see photos posted here, on this forum: real lilies, real colors.
Helen, I caught a virus of lily addiction from you and other enthusiasts from this forum. Your explanations are always very detailed and informative. I think you did not notice when you became an expert :0)
A couple of questions:
How many Lily varieties do you have? And how big is your "small" lily garden?

Alina,

My house sits on a 50' x 100' lot. Our neighborhood is 100 years old and heavily treed (many trees are as old or older than the homes and range up to 80' tall). I have a beech in the center of my (north) backyard that has a 30' diameter canopy and is probably 50' tall. I also have two apple trees along the west border and a dogwood on the east. So, between the house and all the trees my backyard is in full or partial shade most or all of the day. A couple spots dodge the shade. I have a 3'x6' garden between the apple trees. It gets afternoon sun since my neighbor doesn't have trees But, then, the blooms all face my neighbor! I also have a 3'x5' north border garden that gets morning sun until the Beech's shadow moves in. That is my "pink garden" with "Aruba" (oriental), "Elegant Lady" (LO), and "Midnight" (trumpet). But most of my back yard is planted with woodland natives that can tolerate full or partial shade.

I have lily gardens along the sides of my house (east and west). These are "part sun" but since they get pretty strong morning and afternoon sun for a solid number of hours (dawn to noon and noon to evening respectively) I plant "full sun" plants here. I took out foundation bushes to make more room for lilies. With our hot Baltimore summers we need trees, but I'll be darned if some bushes get in my way! :)

My front yard has three large cedars (over 60' tall) that along with some very old street side maples shade most of the front of the lot. The front south east corner doesn't have trees and has a couple decent sized lily gardens (a 6' circular garden and a 3'x6' rectangular garden). These are the only true full sun gardens.

I've also planted lilies that are somewhat shade tolerant, Martagon, Lankongense, and Pardalinum, in spots that qualify as bright partial shade.

I have about 25 different types of lilies. If you click on my user name I have a list - that I haven't updated for a while. I've since added Formosanum, Martagon, Triumphator, Scherazade, Midnight, Speciosum Album, and Black Beauty, and the pumilum and cernuum should probably be removed (since they've never been happy and have yet to bloom). I moved them into pots and they either bloom this year or are getting pitched.

But you know what? I started out with some (cheap!) Lowe's potted Stargazers that I threw into the ground (all pot bound) without a second's thought. They came back so strong and beautiful (and with such fragrance), that I was hooked. I still have them. They were somewhat diminished this past year (after 6 years of growing great) so I finally dug them up, amended the soil, and spaced them out this past fall. This spring will be the first time they've grown in decent conditions!

Good luck with your house search! But until then lilies grow great in pots.

-Helen

P.S. You might want to suggest to The Lily Pad that they ask their dutch grower for clarification on the name. It would be easy to mix...

Helen,
It is a small lot indeed. It is nice that you have managed to grow so many types of lilies there. I am also glad to hear that some of them tolerate partial shade. We have a lot of shady areas here in Maryland, don't we? Old trees and lily gardens - that must be so beautiful!

I'll send an e-mail to the Lily Pad's customer service.

Spring is such an exciting time and they know just how to get us on those snow filled gray days, a colorful catalog with the promise of blooms to come.
My favorite new picks are the newer OTs like, Hacienda, Maywood, Geisha Girl, Manisa and Painted Lady. The OTs seem to settle very well in my garden and multiply at a much better rate than orientals and many offer the same wonderful fragrance.
Two of my favorite new orientals are "New Moon" and "Mambo". One carried by B& D Lilies and the other carried by Faraway Flowers. Am very much enjoying the trend of darker orientals that are coming out now.

Magnolialover,
I also love new (well, and old :-))dark reds and ordered quite a few of them.
I did not find lily with the name "New Moon".
Maybe you meant "Red Moon"?
Did you see them blooming? Or just ordered them? Could you please post some pictures?

Oops, I meant "Red Moon". B & D Lilies tend to have very true to photo pictures. I will post pix this summer. Also look forward to my blooming "Midnight Star" that I have heard talked about in this forum. Finally bit as the price came down last fall.

I hope you are right about B&D's pictures :-)
I ordered several lilies from them basing my choice on their pictures solely. They have some mistakes on their website; and I selfishly hope that "my" lilies will look like their pictures :-)

Magnolialover,
You are a rare owner of some brand new varieties!
I look forward to seeing your lilies' photos this summer!

I remember a while back reading in the B & D Lily catalog that they don't alter their pictures. So hopefully it is close to what they will look like.
Also, I have a special passion for new varieties of my favorite plants, lilies, peonies and iris. Something I enjoy is evaluating the performance & vigor of different varieties. Trying something new is part of who I am. I would very much look forward to sharing my lilies in this forum this summer, if the deer don't eat them all ;) Thanks for asking.

I've ordered several times from B&D and their pictures are very good. I actually wanted to send them a picture of one of my lilies last year that I purchased from them as it was absolutely gorgeous and felt their picture didn't do it justice. So, I took the picture - and then decided my picture didn't do it justice either!!

I sent B&D and order for about $100 for this spring. Can't wait!

We need some height here to compete with our grape vines:

'Indian Summer' (OT Hybrid)
'Lilium regale' (Species Trumpet Lily)
'Pink Perfection Strain' (Trumpet Lily)

Silly me is going to try some seeds this year for our creek bed:
Lilium martagon 'Port Wine' x Open Pollinated
and some Lilium martagon Hybrids from Rainbow.

Growing lilies from seeds sounds so exiting, but it takes so long to get a blooming plant :( Good luck with it, Iowa_jade!
I look forward to seeing everyone's pictures of newly ordered lilies next summer.
Silvergold,
you can post your pictures that you did not send to B&D here, it will warm us up on these cold days!

Has anyone ever bought from Ednie's? I'm either going to be very, very happy or, well you know what the opposite is. I've bought 15 different varieties of oriental and asiatic bulbs for potted resale at our local farmer's markets. Anything that I don't sell will probably be planted in my beds. I'll have about 200 pots to move this spring.

Anybody grow
Dynamite
Tiara
Constanta
Rosy Dawn
Acapulco
Star Angel
Fatal
Pink Pixie
Golden Flame
Matrix
Sorpresa
Belo Horizonte
Biraffe
Blackout?

These are supposed to be bulbs 14-16 cm to 18-20 cm in size. We'll see what they look like when they get here I suppose.

Janet

Hi Janet,
What is Ednie's? Can you post a link?

Ednie Flower Bulb inc.

http://www.ednieflowerbulb.com/

They do have a minimum order of $250. Most everything was in groups of 25-100-300 bulbs. The prices looked good to me providing you wanted 25 bulbs or more at a time.

Janet

It seems to be a nice company. It is too "wholesale" for me ;-)
I think its sister companies Wooden Shoe Bulb Farm and Country Gardens do not have minimum order requirement. I can be wrong. Country Gardens has free shipping for orders over $99.
They have very nice selection, but 25 bulbs of one kind is too much for me :-( I ordered some varieties from your list (Rosy Dawn, Matrix, Blackout) from other sellers. I did not grow them yet, so I cannot give you a feedback on them. I am sure that all of them are very nice though.

Here is the one I mentioned above - where the actual lily is better than both B&Ds and my picture. This one is just beautiful!! It is Arabian Red:

Also from B&D last year - First Crown and Latvia Promise:

I added a bunch of really bright lilies to the far end of this corner bed - can't see them very well. The area is bound by utility wires so is very narrow:

And another picture of the same area - can't wait for spring!!

Silvergold,
This is breathtaking!
I especially love your bed's pictures. It is so color balanced and well planned! Could you please tell me what are your lilies' companions?
I am glad I ordered First Crown; it is beautiful on every picture I saw.

Thanks for posting these beauties' photos, it is so inspiring!

Thanks alina! Actually the initial plants for the area were purchased as part of 'sunny garden' set from Jungs way back in 2000. We had just moved into the house and had no landscaping - this was the first area we put in. Some of the plants have been replaced and lilies added but much of it is still there.

Plants from left to right in first picture of bed:
Monarda Jacob Cline
Salvia May Night
a very small Filigran Russian Sage (just planted last year)
Lily Pink Pastel frost not yet in bloom
Heirloom Lace Daylily
Geranium - Johnson's Blue and sanguineum (both past their flowering peak)
Moonbeam coreopsis
Miscellaneous pastel lilies
Autumn Joy Sedum
Nepeta subsessillis
An extremely happy Salvia Snow Hill that is spilling out over the grass on the corner

The planting is then repeated on the other side of the corner with the addition of silver mound artemesia, Eva Cullem Phlox, and stargazer lilies that aren't yet in bloom.

There are also some other plants that are mixed in that aren't in bloom, were just added last year, or are hidden in the picture. The plants are very close together. The bright lilies I added at the far end last year are: Sphinx, Naomi, Soiree, Latvia Promise, Fancy Crown, First Crown, and Feugo Crown.

Oh golly.....
All of these pictures and postings are making me drool.
It's freezing here in Middle River Maryland. I can't wait to get out and get my hands dirty with gardening.

Alina_1 .... it seems we might be neighbors.( Baltimore area) We should compare notes. Are you a member of any gardening clubs? I'm interested in doing that maybe this year. I know alot about alot of things but when it comes to knowing alot about any one group of plants or having anything other than a cottage look in my gardens...I am lacking. I've decided to try and consolidate my gardens somewhat to a few types of flowers....Iris and Lilies.....so I am gathering information, suggestions....and maybe new gardening friends to help me out.
It's been enjoyable reading the posts here on this forum.
I'm usually watching and posting to the Mid-Atlantic gardening forum. We have a small but growing group of people that like to get together in the spring and fall to swap plants and seeds or gardening items. It's quite a nice gathering of gardening enthusiasts...who bring swaps, and give-a-way plants and great tasting food to enjoy together.
I'm really looking forward to Spring....as we all are, I'm sure.

Bonnie

Thank you Silvergold,
You are giving some very nice ideas about plant combos. Like Bonnie said, we have unusually cold weather here in Maryland and your pictures are just what we need. I will bookmark this page. I hope I will have a real garden at some point...
Bonnie,
I live in Montgomery County, not very close to you, but not too far either. I've been lurking a little at the Mid-Atlantic Forum, but did not post there. Since I do not have a garden yet (have a couple of severe plant addictions though) and do not have much to swap, I will not attend your wonderful swap this time. I have to stop ordering for this spring now - I ordered more than 40 types of Lilies already; it is kind of too much for container planting. I thought about spliting some Lily orders with someone in our area, because some wholesale offers are very attractive. For example, Brent and Becky's offers Triumphator for $1 per bulb if you order 25 bulbs. That's unbeatable! We can stay in touch if you are interested in this kind of deals.
I would join some gardening club, but I should probably get a garden first :0)
BTW, Helen lives in Baltimore area also. She is a very knowledgeable person when it comes to Lilies. I enjoy reading her posts very much.
I am so glad to know that there are some Lily lovers in my area! Have a good spring swap, Bonnie!

Silvergold, I love your lily garden combo and was wondering if you can give me some suggestions on how to spruce up my lily area (not a very good picture...hose in the way...etc). Thanks!

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Hi cameragirl - nice picture! What is the really tall lily in your picture?

I find that coreopsis moonbeam does really well at the base of lilies. Doesn't compete with the roots and covers the bare base. Perennial geraniums also do OK but the flowers aren't as long lasting. Otherwise, any of the perennials I have listed above would do OK if there is room. I tend to plant pretty close together but the lilies seem to be doing fine.

You can't see the newer lillies (far right in 3rd picture) that I planted last year. I added some moonbeam coreopsis at the end of the summer to fill in for those.

Thanks Silvergold. The really tall lily is called Orienpet Lily Golden Stargazer by J&P...I bought this baby about 4 years ago and as you can see it's really grown...here's a closer look and the other lily is Casablanca. I like the idea of the putting Salvia "May Night" in front of the Lily Garden...thanks for the ideas.

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Very nice - I like the Golden Stargazer!

silvergold, really enjoyed your pictures. I have "dead" areas on the corners of my house, and you have inspired me. Right now I just have orange ditchlilies there: and I could be doing more with that valuable real estate! I noticed your "Salvia Snow Hill" : I didn't know there was a white salvia! That's a perennial?

Golden Stargazer I believe was hybrid from Ed McRae that Jackson and Perkins sold, along with many other vendors.

My favorite Lily is "NIPPON". It is somewhat short at 18" in my garden but it makes up for that in color. It has a general white color overlayed with ivory and a lemon yellow. the stamins are red. Around the edge of each petal is a narrow band of deep red. The best part is it is the largest Lily I have at 10" across in my garden. I love this thing. currently have 40 in the ground and 24 more arriving soon from the ONLY place I know that has it----- DUTCH GARDENS catalog. NIPPON

Hi Lilium_guy,
I bought Nippon at American Meadows this year (when they had 50% off sale). The bulbs I received from them this time are great! Fresh, huge, with thick white roots. Much better than bulbs I got from Dutch Gardens.
Nippon Lilies at American Meadows