TYROL LILIES

UPDATE 2011-05-08

2011-05-08T06:22:00.001-07:00

I do not remember that we ever had sucha long warm and sunny spring like this year - now only sun and nearly no rain from February until May........... and no end to see.............

My lilies grow like never before........... :)

UPDATE 2011-04-17

2011-04-17T02:03:00.001-07:00

Allthough we had snow last week for 2 days, no harm has happened to my lilies. Several of them are already 1/2 m high, and also lilies which usually emerge in May, like L. nepalense and its hybrid 'Kushi Maya', have already appeared above ground. However, L. nepalense seems to "grow backwards", I have obviously not yet found good hardy clones.

But on the other hand the so called "difficult" L. bakerianum has survived winter very well, and 3 nice stems have already appeared. I always thought that the OTs will be emerging later than other lily groups, however, they obvisously are the first to appear above the soil!

Several overviews in the morning:

'Anastasia' - VERY thick and VERY vigorous this year!

L. candidum group with a large Salvia in the middle, on the right L. regale group which is one of the latest this year.

One of my favourits: 'Golden Stargazer' with enormous stems this year!

UPDATE 2011-04-09

2011-04-09T00:35:00.000-07:00

A lot has already happened on my small lily field in 2011. Since the weather was very dry and sunny in Jan., Feb., and March and also VERY warm (up to 26°C) in April, virtually all lilies have appeared, some of them are already 25+ cm high! Since I really had "problems" with weeds during the course of the 2 last years, I have made gravel paths to be sure that at least these will be free of weeds. At the moment, everything on the field is doing VERY WELL, so 2011 has had a great start! :) Field in early April.......... ......and on April 6 right after having finished the gravel paths. Lilium candidum, as usual, i the first lily to appear, however, a lot of others have already grown large "spears" up to 25+ cm (photos will follow.....) Large Alliums and an enormous Eremurus robustus that was planted in spring 2010 and did not even make leaves last year.

New start into 2011! :)

2011-03-09T09:11:00.000-08:00

Hi again :)

2011 has started rather early here in Tyrol since the weather was very dry and mostly warm during February and now in March, so the field is already open, and L. candidum has started to grow.

However, a little bit of rain would be O.K. now..................

L. candidum

2010-10-09

2010-10-09T09:23:00.000-07:00

Well, summer is over, most of my lilies have already lost their leaves, only a few are still green.

Even more green are the weeds yet, so a lot of work is to be done...............

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However, I was able to harvest several big and small capsules that were spared by the hailstorm, several regale crossings, crossings with and between tangos, and also some seeds were harvested from promising L. taliense and L. lijiangense crossings. Will start sowing in Jan/Feb. 2011.

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I also decided NOT to make a lily seed exchange via my site www.the-genus-lilium.com since it really caused me a lot of work during the last 2 years, and I really have lots of seeds to care of from this year.

So this might have been the last post for 2010.......... :)

UPDATE 2010-08-04

2010-08-04T11:38:00.000-07:00

BACK FROM HOLIDAY

Before my holiday a terrible hailstorme came over Tyrol and my filed, and after it looked as if a madman has raged with a scythe. Now it is visible that a lot of pollinated flowers have been crashed, but also quite a lot have survived, especially some interesting Trumpet as well as Tango crossings. Also several L. taliense and L. lijiangense pollinations produce large capsules to some extent.

Nevertheless, I guess, next year I will install a hail protection................. :)

UPDATE 2010-07-17a

2010-07-17T06:32:00.001-07:00

While packing my luggage for holidays, a terrible hailstorm just came over us...........

A battle field............... :(
To be honest: I would have rather preferred not to see that before going in to holidays.....

UPDATE 2010-07-17

2010-07-16T23:47:00.000-07:00

Last pictures before summer holiday!

´Kushi Maya´, the wonderful L. nepalense hybrid with an Oriental, at its best!
No hybrids with it have been successfully produced up to now, however, I have applied pollen of different 4n OTs and hope that there might happen something........... :)

A still not really identified "miniature trumpet" from China, probably a first flowering L. regale or so:

´Condor´, a rather nice, but not very spectacular OT.

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I have already performed a lot of interesting crossings this year, a lot with the different Tangos, Trumpets and OTs, but also with L. taliense and L. pumilum, several of them look very promising by having nice capsules. L. taliense seems to accept virtually any (Asiatic) pollen (however, I do not know if it has a tendency to apomixys?), and L. pumilum shows good qualities as pollen donor. So, I have a large capsule on ´Dani Afrin´, although this cultivar is said not to be fertile either as pollen donor or as acceptor.

On the other hand, all crossings performed with L. nepalense, at current, seem to have failed, so this species appeares to be very difficult as crossing partner (as seed pod carrier as well as as pollen donor).

Yesterday I have also made some crossings on L. henryi and L. rosthornii, and after my holiday there will appear some late OTs which will give some more possibilities.

I guess, in summery, the very hot weather of the last 3 weeks (always around 30-35°C) might have encouraged the one or other crossing too and will do since it should stay hot during the course of the next weeks.............

HAVE A NICE REMAINING JULY! :)

UPDATE 2010-07-14

2010-07-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

3 tiny bulbs from last year developed these enormous flowers called ´Golden Stargazer´ (4n?), a great surprise with delicous scent.

These bulbs were bought as ´Pink Perfection`, however, they seem to be a very pretty upright trumpet called ´Golden Reflections`. Very appealing!

´Hamma Hamma´, a nice bicoloured Trumpet.

Two unknown cultivars, an Asiatic and an Oriental.

´Geisha Girl´, ~160 cm high, nearly double as last year.

UPDATE 2010-07-09

2010-07-09T23:42:00.001-07:00

"Panomaric view" of my field on 2010-07-08

The trumpet lily ´Pink Perfection´ now in bloom. For me, one of the best clones I have ever seen of this cultivar: Very fine color even during this hot weather now, semi- to upright flowers, wonderful scent.

Comparison of the different Lilium candidum clones I currently have.

Upper left side: a first bloomer from seeds

Upper right and lower left side: 2 clones I purchased last year

Lower right side: a first blommer made from scales

Another very large clone is still missing, the plant, at current, is about 150 cm high and will start to bloom soon.

UPDATE 2010-07-04

2010-07-04T07:04:00.001-07:00

My first own crossing in bloom! :)

The seedling is already 4 years old. It´s the result of crossing a "no name" dark red upright Asiatic with another "no name" pendant salmon Asiatic, about 30 seeds came out. I had them on my terrace under rather bad conditions for 3 years, and the final 2 bulbs were planted on my field last fall. This one seems to be the only surviver, it´s not spectacular, the flowers are a nice raspberry red, small and semi pendant.

However, I am a bit proud of it. Both parents were rather large with a ot of flowers, so there could be potential....... :))))

The 50 ´Royal Sunset´ babies now in full bloom.

´Tinos´, a nice 3 colored Asiatic.

Another Tango, namely ´Yellow Pixels", nice but not spectacular.

Finally, from Chen Yi (2009) either lily "L. 17" or "L. 41" - they had been planted side by side, so the confusion. I am not sure if it is not a hybrid, maybe something around L. davidii or so, however, spotless and rather large with a very appealing salmon-orange color.

UPDATE ´2010-07-03

2010-07-03T01:08:00.001-07:00

OVERVIEW:

Very dominating at the moment: my L. regale (hybrids) group - the highest plant being more than 190 cm tall! In between ´Golden Splendour´ emerges with one plant already 200 cm tall.
On the left front side my L. candidum group, on the left front already ~170 high ´Pink Perfection´.

Tangos and other Asiatics.

´Feuerzauber´, already in its final flowering phase, together with the beautyful ´Royal Sunset´, some of them with 20 and more buds!

TANGOS:

´Orange Art´ & ´Tiger Play´

Closeups

´Music Art´ & ´Strawberries and Cream´

´Tiny Sensation´ - nice flowers, but as a "miniature" Asiatic, it is so compact the flowers don´t have a possibility to open well. Not the best cultivar compared with, for instance, ´Tiger Play´ or ´Music Art´.

A rather pretty and large flowered "no name" Asiatic.

´Royal Sunset´ - even more beautiful than last year with up to 20 and more buds per plant.

And these are my ~50 ´Royal Sunset´ babies from my 5 main plants from 2009 - nearly all of them with their first flower already!

My Lilium regale (hybrids) group more closely. The scent when standing in front of them is stunning! L. regale, at current, is an important plant for my breeding program.

Pretty, but not really thrilling: Chris North´s ´Ariadne´ (L. davidii X L. lankongense). Maybe, in its second year on my field it will be more convincing...............

I am a little anxious about the LA ´Eye Liner´ which had developed enourmously during spring (5 times higher than in its first year!), however, one plant really shows severe virus symptoms! This is a flower of the good plant...........

As beautiful as last year : LA ´Rousseau´

Asiatic ´Landini´ now in full bloom - strange colour, but beautiful. The flower popped up like pop corn because of the heat and burn immediately! Guess, they would do better in a more sun protected site.

´Rosella´s Dream´ - not very exciting pink - it should show a yellowish flush, but i think because of the heat this flush has just "burnt away" and is now light pink/whitish.

This is how it "should" look:

http://www.naturehills.com/images/productimages/lily_asiatic_rosellasdream.jpg),

UPDATE 2010-06-26

2010-06-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

OVERVIEW

FINALLY, Lilium candidum, probably the most beautiful lily in existance, in flower (pic is made with mobile phone and with a lot of wind................ ;) ). Deliciously scented!!!

In the front Lilium candidum, in the back my large L. regale + ´Golden Splendour´ group, whereby the one who has his eyes open can see that not all are "pure" L. regale, but, obviously, hybrids, visible by the racemous inflorescence of several plants ............. :)

A better picture of ´Feuerzauber´ (see post of yesterday). Very delicious watermelon color and huge flowers!

UPDATE 2010-06-25

2010-06-26T10:04:00.001-07:00

The first Lilium nepalense to flower - as shown ~3 weeks ago - has now developed dark red foliage - is this a sign that the pollination has been successfull??? I don´t know......... :)

Lilium taliense - last year with 3 flowers, this year already several more............. :)

A very nice surprise: a cheap "shopping centre" Asiatic named ´Feuerzauber´ (which means something like "magic of fire") shows enormous cherry red flowers of great substance (better pictures will follow). It´s, obviously, a crossing from 1970 (my birthday year :) ) of 'Erect' (= L. x hollandicum selection) x L. tigrinum (= L. lancifolium?), and I have ten of them, several already with secondary buds in their first year!
I planted them mainly for cut flowers, but I guess, they are also very interesting for hybridizing (provided, they are not triploids)............. :)

UPDATE 2010-06-19

2010-06-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

A pretty new addition I found in a garden centre today:

A cheap "no name" baby pink Asiatic with a white median flush and appealing light orange pollen! Have never seen anything like that, normally the tepals are colored more intensively at the basis and fade out towards the margins.

Ed Mc Rae describes a breeding line out of ´Connecticut King´ from the late 1960s, early ´70s which showed such features, but they were yellow and orange with white and after introducing 2 or 3 clones, the line was not any more followed, unfortunately.

I think it is a very interesting and unique feature! Just had pollen of L. pumilum at hand and applied it after amputating the style :)

UPDATE 2010-06-18

2010-06-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

The weather is REALLY strange this year!
After a warm period in spring causing the lilies to emerge early in April, it started to be very cold for ~1 1/2 months with temps below 15, often even 10°C. Then there came a short phase with 30-35 °C, and now, a week ago, the temps have rushed down to ~15°C and less again. The weather forecast talked of snow down to 1.300 m above sea level during the course of the weekend!

So, the plants have all developed well during the course of the weeks, but flowers are rather late.

Unfortunately, the red and black SLUGS also have multiplied more than well................

OVERVIEW (All pictures taken with camera of my mobile phone, therefore, sometimes a bit pale)

The second plant of Lilium nepalense - the one which had survived winter outside!

I think it is the same plant (or a doughter bulb) of my blog´s title image, paler due to the weather and to the fact that the pics were taken with the cam of my mobile phone. However, still unique and beautiful with its tepals so elegantly curled back! Wonderful!

And, YES, a crossing (with amputated style) has been performed. :)

Lilium lijiangense at its best! Still one of my favourits! :)

L. lijiangense close up.

Although I have thought that Lilium candidum will be one of the first lilies to flower, they have been thrown back by the bad weather. However, they develope very well, some even show secondary buds!

Lilium candidum in the front, some of them already reaching 120 cm, L. regale and Golden Splendour in the back.

A part of my Lilium bakerianum group. I had this species already some years before, and all of them (var. delavayi as well as var. roseum) reached 1 m and more (did not survive winter in pots). This year´s plants are all super-tiny with no exception!

Again, Golden Splendour, reaching 190 cm this year and still growing............ :)

Centerfold, a rather nice Tango/Asiatic cultivar. From the description it should be white with purple brushmarks, I guess the weather caused it to become more pink.

Dani Afrin in its second year. The color (which is much better in nature!) is really stunning, however, the wet weather seems to harm the petals which become mottled with dark irregular spots. Maybe also a virus is involved, and this might be the reason why the cultivar was taken from Richard Hyde´s list, as one can read on his homepage. The plants are still very sturdy, so, at current, I do not plan to remove them.

A great surprise this year: Eye Liner which was about 30 cm high with some 2 or 3 flowers in its first year, but has reached already more than 100 cm - and still growing - in 2010 with stems thick like a man´s finger! And the original 2 bulbs have developed at least 10 babies, a feature which seems to be typical for many LA hybrids (as seen on my field for other cultivars also).

Also a sweet surprise: Tiny Sensation (with a deformed flower), a dwarf cultivar with a very appealing color combination, only 15 cm high at current. I found this lily in autumn 2009 as a faded pot for 2 € in a garden centre, containing 3 large and about 10 baby bubs. However, the small label showed a nice picture - and that´s it! :)

Still a long time to flowering time, but developing very well: Anastasia, a 3n OT hybrid.

UPDATE 2010-06-10

2010-06-10T10:46:00.000-07:00

Short update:

Lilium ´Matrix´ is in full flower now (taken with mobile phone). It is rather nice, but, to be honest, nothing special with its simple orange flowers because not comparable with the advertising pics on the net (right side) which describe it as bicoloured red with orange centre. Might be rather something like ´Orange Pixie´.

The large Lilium nepalense bud from the last posting has opened to a magnificent bell shaped flower of ~20 cm in diameter, however, no pic has been made since it was used for a crossing. A second flower (the one which has survived winter on my field) willopen during the course of the next days.

Lilium candidum is very late this year due to the extremely cold May - now it has 30°C after a phase of below 10°C.

UPDATE 2010-05-29

2010-05-30T02:08:00.001-07:00

..........Lilium pumilum made the race in 2010........... ;)
(The picture is not right from the field, but from ~2007, so to say a "symbol photo", because it was raining so havily that the camera would rather have been washed away than make a good photo.........)

L. nepalense has developed enormously during the course of this week, the bud is ~ 12 cm long, and it will open today (sunday) or tomorrow.

UPDATE 2010-05-23

2010-05-23T08:21:00.000-07:00

And the winner will be....................

Lilium nepalense - I guess, the flower will open on wednesday or thursday.......... :))
Last year, in May the stems just started to emerge - in 2010, they even bloom in May!
(Picture shot with mobile pone)

UPDATE 2010-05-22

2010-05-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Overview over the field by means of "panomaric view":

Lilium bakerianum: several different color forms, the smallest one, obviously containing at least one bud, only ~8 cm high.

My 2 Lilium taliense bulbs also have multiplied very well from 2009 up to today; they have a stoloniform way of sending out the baby bulbs, so I have to pay attention not to step on them. .

A very beautiful guest (I think, one of the most beautiful of all European beetles) - but, unfortunately, pure poison for lilies: the Scarlet Lily Beetle. The bugs, but also the ugly larvae (which cover themselves with their own excrements) feed on the lily leaves and can destroy a plant. There is no other way than to smash this animal. This is - well: WAS! - the 5th beetle this year, up to now, I have not found eggs or larvae.

Allium afflatunense var. album, a garlic/onion relative, about 1.20 m high.

Allium christophii (another garlic/onion relative) with very large flower head - very pretty!

The last Narcissus poeticus flower - nicely scented with the, finally, warm weather (after 3 weeks with, mostly, below 10°C).

Only about 1 week left, and the first lilies will open their flowers! :)

UPDATE 2010-05-19

2010-05-19T11:24:00.000-07:00

Countdown to first flowers!

In the beginning I thought, Lilium candidum will be the first to flower in 2010................

BUT: Besides Lilium pumilum, also L. nepalense appeared extremely early above the ground this year and might be the first to flower.............

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´Royal Sunset´ has multiplied enormously in 2009! From 5 bulbs, I have received more than 50 babies, AND nearly all of them will flower this year! :)

Finally, I am happy to see that Lilium wenshanense, which I thought had died during winter, now appearad above soil level.

UPDATE 2010-05-17

2010-05-17T10:47:00.001-07:00

After a week on holiday, the lilies (as well as the weeds!) have developed well. It was very wet and cold this week, in contrast to the weeks before when it was dry and warm or even "hot" for April and May.

Overview (2010-05-16):

Just before going on holiday, I found the large Lilium candidum on the right side at a local spcialist. It is a rather strange plant with unusually large leaves which are located more densely on the upper parts of the very thick stem. Could it be a tetraploid L. candidum? We will see....... :)

In a corner of the field, Narcissus poeticus is flowering nicely, because of the wet weather not scented at the moment.

UPDATE 2010-05-02

2010-05-04T13:01:00.000-07:00

Growing - growing - growing............ :)

UPDATE 2010-04-26

2010-04-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

Overviews of the field - I know, weeds are growing heavily, but nothing compared to 2009.............. :)))

A lot of seedlings (L. concolor, L. leucanthum, several crossings), all sown at home in January, have been planted on the field yesterday - fortunately and finally, we had some rain during the night and today, so they look rather good now. Frequent watering will be necessary :)

UPDATE 2010-04-11

2010-04-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

After some warm days with rain in between, the lilies have now come up like Asparagus!
Seems to become a good year................! :)

Lilium candidum already sending up stems

Some nice Fritillarias already in bloom.

Arisaema sikokianum

UPDATE 2010-04-03

2010-04-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

New lilies planted:

Tango Type Asiatics:
- Music Art 3
- Strawberries & Cream 3

Asiatics:
- Dimention 4
- Pink Giant 3 (up to 200+ cm!!)
- Rosella´s Dream 3
- Tinos

L-A Hybrids (Longiflorum X Asiatics)
- Advantage 3

L-O Hybrids (Longiflorum X Orientals)
- Chiara 3
- El Condor 3
- Gizmo
- Triumphator

O-T Hybrids (Orientals X Trumpets)
- Big Brother 3
- Black Beauty 1
- Frankfurt 3
- Miss Lily 3

UPDATE 2010-03-27

2010-03-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

NEW LILIES PLANTED:

Asiatics:
- Centerfold, a white Brushmark lily (1)
- 3 pure white "no name" liliy bulbs

Besides that, as "test plant", Hedychium aurantiacum or Orange Ginger, which was sold as "winter hardy" - however, I do not think it will survive winter, but let us talk about it again in spring 2011...... ;)

Also some nice Arisaema bulbs have been planted:
- A. candidissimum, 4 different colour clones
- A. speciosum 2
- A. sikokianum 1

UPDATE 2010-03-26

2010-03-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

NEW LILIES PLANTED

Asiatics:
- White Pixels 2 (Tango)
- Yellow Pixels 2 (Tango)
- Pink Pixels 2 (Tango)
- Salmon Tiger 2
- Heloma 2

OT
- Sheherazade 2

Species - something very special! I hope it´s true....... :)
- Lilium speciosum var. rubrum ´Flore plena´

UPDATE 2010-03-20

2010-03-20T09:39:00.001-07:00

Start of lily season on the field! And I am very happy about it! :)))

When removing old lily stems, I just had a look for the corresponding ´Golden Splendour´bulb - and this is what I found! When I planted this bulb in spring 2009, it had only ~1/3 of this size. So, this tells me that the soil on my field seems to be quite good............. :)

The following lilies have been planted today:

SPECIES:
- Lilium henryi 4 (2 clones)
- Lilium leucanthum var. leucanthum 2
- Lilium leucanthum var centifolium 2 (small strange untypical bulbs!)
- Lilium bakerianum var. aureum 4 (2 clones)
- Lilium bakerianum var. delavayi 2
- Lilium bakerianum var. bakerianum 2
- Lilium bakerianum var. roseum 4 (2 clones)
- Lilium sulphureum 4 (a deep and a pale yellow clone)
- Lilium sargentiae 2
- Lilium regale 2
- Lilium distichum 2
- Lilium rosthornii 2
- Lilium speciosum var. rubrum 2
- Lilium davidii ssp. willmottiae

HYBRIDS:
Trumpet:
- African Queen 2

Asiatic:
- Landini 1
- Barcelona 2
- Red hyperpigmented Asiatic 1

Oriental:
- Muscaded 2
- Red Dutch 2

First lilies germinating - start of 2010 :)

2010-01-17T07:36:00.001-08:00

Lilium concolor - sown on 10-01-2010:

13-03-2010: Baby bulbs have already developed :)

06-02-2010:

24-01-2010:

19-01-2010:

15-01-2010:

14-01-2010:

Planting 2009-10-26

2009-11-01T07:44:00.000-08:00

Species:
L. henryi (2)
L. nepalense (2) (all Nepalenses will be overwintered in pots, not on the field!)

HYBRIDS:

Tangos (= Asiatics with bright colors and a large dark blotch or a lot of dark speckles on the basal half of the tepals)

- Caliente (2)
- Orange Art (2)
- Purple Reign (2)
- Tiger Play (2)

Asiatics:
- Ariadne (L. lankongense hybrid, 1)
- Feuer und Rauch (1)

Trumpets:
- Cyprian (1)
- Copper King (2)
- Gold Eagle (1)
- Hamma Hamma (1)
- Lednice (2)
- White Henryi (2)
- Trend (1)

OTs (= Oriental X Trumpet hybrids)
- Elise (1)
- Leslie Woodriff (4n, 2)
- Pizzazz (1)
- Silk Road (2)

Two other orders will arrive during the course of the next days........... :)

UPDATE 2009-11-01

2009-11-01T07:34:00.000-08:00

I guess, this will be the last view over the field for 2009 ;) Several new lilies have been planted (list will follow soon), and also a lot of baby bulbs have been harvested and planted.

The bulbs that had produced flowers this year all have developed enormously! For instance, the bulbs of ´Conca D´Or` were about 3 cm in diameter when planted; today they were dug up, cleaned and planted again - and they all had the size of a fist plus 15 baby bulbs from 1-3 cm diameter!

The Lilium candidum planting has also developed well during the last month.

I have made a raised seed bed for sowing in spring 2010. Well, looks a bit strange, I know, but I swear: nobody is missing in my family........... :)

UPDATE 2009-10-15

2009-11-01T07:32:00.000-08:00

A view over the field with the the Cosmeas on the Western side - 2 days later they all were gone because of the first frost...............

UPDATE 2009-09-30

2009-11-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

No flowers any more, a nice Lilium candidum group has started to form rosettes. L. candidum ("madonna Lily") is the only lily that has to be planted shallowly, only ~3-5 cm deep, and that forms a rosette of leaves in fall that survives the winter.

My first own hybrid from Lilium henryi. If everything has gone "the right way", these are the only 6 seedlings of L. henryi X L. bakerianum var. delavayi! Bulbs are now 1 1/2 years old and about 1-2 cm in diameter (have been in pots up to now).

UPDATE 2009-08-16

2009-08-28T09:15:00.001-07:00

The last cultivars are in bloom (only Stargazer is missing):

ANASTASIA, a large tetraploid OT, in its first year already with 10 and more flowers; at the moment ~140 cm high, should be up to 180 cm in the next years. Huge deliciously scented flowers!

NYMPH, another tetra OT.

Famous SHEHERAZADE, a wonderful and large tetra Black Beauty hybrid.

UPDATE 2009-07-31

2009-07-31T06:32:00.000-07:00

A surprise for me: Lilium wenshanense, a rather "new" Chinese trumpet lily. I have it for the 3rd season now, did never bloom, was only ~1 m high. Totally winter hardy(!) up to now with several times less than -15 °C, still have it in a pot, but will be transplanted to my field in fall.

Nearly 170 cm high, buds 17 cm long, the open flower ~14 cm long, only slightly recurved tips, tepals stay kind of "fused" in the basal half of the flower. Very light scent, maybe in the evening it will be more intensive. Ver nice appearance!

UPDATE 2009-07-29

2009-07-30T09:10:00.001-07:00

Lilium nepalense - my 4th clone. Extremely elegant and delicoius colour (the picture is NOT colour improved on PC!)!

Lilium auratum - the Japanese "Gold Band Lily". Flowers about 25 cm in diameter and heavily scented!

ROBERT SWANSON - colourful OT.

Lilium taliense capsule - "pregnant" with L. lijiangense ;)

VERSIJA - a Latvian OT with very fruity scent. Unfortunately, the stems are very thin and grow more horizontal than vertical ;)

UPDATE 2009-07-25

2009-07-25T09:58:00.001-07:00

KUSHI MAYA - the first registered Lilium nepalense hybrid has opened its marvelous flowers! Looks like a large L. nepalense with strong tepals as usually found in OTs. Deliciously scented!

My third Lilium nepalense clone - again different with a very attractive flat flower, tepals about ~11 cm long.

UPDATE 2009-07-23

2009-07-23T10:06:00.001-07:00

A comparison of 2 of my Lilium nepalense clones:

The following picture (which has already been shown some days ago) compares the 2 clones in flower:

And here you can see 2 tepals of these clones on a cm-scale - 9 vs. 16 cm! So, flattened, the large flower would have a diameter of appr. 32-33 centimeters!

An additional difference is that the large flower has dark grey-brown pollen, the small one bright orange; a third clone which is just starting to bloom, has medium grey pollen, and the tepals are about 11 cm long. Photo will be addedduring the course of the next days!

OFF TOPIC - Lilium lancifolium

2009-07-19T09:55:00.000-07:00

The following is Lilium lancifolium var. flaviflorum, it is NOT in my field because I have them separate from my other lilies. I received bulblets of this species from the natural stand in South Corea 3 years ago, and it is funny to see that this "WILD" PLANT is POLLEN FREE!

UPDATE 2009-07-18

2009-07-19T09:37:00.001-07:00

DISTINCTION (not dEstinction, as marked on the pic) - a wonderful LO-hybrid (Hyde & son) - it´s one the largest flowers I have ever seen (nearly 25 cm in diameter!), excellent scent, one of my new favourits!

A surprise! Originally bought as "Nomocharis aperta", this plant turned out to be a lily, namely the elegant L. lankongense (the plant is still in a pot).

Lilium nepalense - now my favourite GIGANTIC clone has opened its first flower. Each petal is ~15 cm long when streched! So about 30 cm in diameter when flattened!!!

Sideview

Lilium nepalense - the "bad" clone, not half as large as the "good" one ;)

Lilium nepalense - comparison of the 2 clones (2 more, smaller ones, will flower during the course of the next days)

SALMON STAR - I bought the 3 bulbs in a super market and did not expect such a beautyfull soft-salmon Oriental!

UPDATE 2009-07-15

2009-07-15T11:46:00.001-07:00

A pretty fly with lily pollen on its legs. It´s the same fly that can be seen on the Tango hybrid at the end of this day´s entry.

BEVERLEY´S DREAM

CONCA D´OR - one of the largest flowering Orien-Pets, one of my favourits

GEISHA GIRL in full bloom - another one of my favourits

GOLDEN SPLENDOUR (not emperor as indicated on the pic) - clone 1

GOLDEN SPLENDOUR (not emperor as indicated on the pic) - clone 2

KUSHI MAYA, the first "official" L. nepalense hybrid - soon in bloom

Oriental MARU

Lilium nepalense - one of my favourite species. Unfortunately, this first flower exposes a rather unattractive clone, BUT, as seen below: 3 more clones are on their way to flower..........

Lilum nepalense - superior clone with flowers more than double as large as the first one.

Lilium nepalense - the four clones compared.

Pink "no-name" Oriental - very attractive and large!

The only "Tango" hybrid in flower for this year - nice, but as "Tango" rather disappointing. A typical sign of the Tangos are the dark intensive "brushmarks" = dark intensive spotting on the lower half of the petals - here just some darkspots as in many asiatics can be seen.

Crossings have been performed with Lilium lijiangense and L. taliense.

UPDATE 2009-07-09

2009-07-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

Lilium taliense in its final flowering phase

Originally labelled as ´WHITE AMERICAN´, a typical Lilium longiflorum hybrid, but it´s definitely an oriental, maybe SIBERIA.

ROYAL SUNSET in full bloom.

ROYAL SUNSET (right) compared with ANASTASIA (left), which is one of the largest OTs crossed ever - up to 3 m, in its first year currently about 1.2 m, final hight will be ~1.5 m.

ROUSSEAU: phantastic and huge soft salmon flowers

"No-name" pink Asiatic hybrid

PINK PERFECTION - huge and old Trumpet hybrid

GEISHA GIRL shortly before opening its flowers

UPDATE 2009-07-01

2009-07-01T10:37:00.000-07:00

OVERVIEW

Royal Sunset: an LO-hybrid with a stunning color combination of raspberry turning orange towards the base of the tepals.

Eye Liner: a milk-white Asiatic with a brown fine margin outlining the tepals.

Lilium taliense: phantastic Chinese species lily with dark purple spots and soft scent. Large, very elegant pendant turk´s cap flowers.

With a fluttering moth

UPDATE 2009-06-25

2009-06-25T08:58:00.001-07:00

A new stable fence has been built during the course of the week! :)

This is the best proof that also a "no-name" bulb of a shopping centre can be a little gem: a wonderful Oriental with large raspberry flowers and green nectaries!

Lilium regale (white) and ´Golden Emperor´ in full bloom.

Lilium taliense - still in buds 10 days after the last photo.

UPDATE 2009-06-15

2009-06-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

NEW FLOWERS

Lilium lijiangense - first flower, one of my favourites!

Dani Afrin - not the best in substance, but extraordinary colour!

Lilium taliense - only a few days left..........

UPDATE 2009-06-12

2009-06-11T09:41:00.001-07:00

FIELD OVERVIEW

Conca D´Or - normally one of the largest soft yellow OTs, however, this year tiny because bulbs were of poor quality ("special offer" in super market!).

Lilium lijiangense - one of my favourite species with elegant pendant deep yellow flowers with dark, nearly black, nectaries - and EXTRAORDINARY potential for hybridizing!

Lilium nepalense - the bulbs were also of rather poor quality and came up extremely late (although it IS always rather late). Besides, the stems are wandering around below soil surface. 10 bulbs were planted, only 4 have appeared up to now.

Salmon Star - a phantastic new color combination in Orientals: soft peach to apricot! VERY promising!

Stargazer and Golden Stargazer - both were rather poor quality and are still small. Golden Stargazer is more or less the first really yellow Oriental with not fading color...... we will see............ ;)

Lilium taliense - another favourite of mine. White flowers with dark nectaries, and - in my view - great potential for future crossings.

Tango hybrids - extremely promising potential in hybridizing! Special feature: bright colors and a spray of dark brushmarks at the base of each tepal - and many seedlings also show this feature too! Bulbs were, unfortunately, of poor quality when planted.

UPDATE 2009-05-30

2009-05-31T00:09:00.000-07:00

Overview:

Some of the species:

L. taliense

L. lijiangense - typical are the long pedicles which already start to elongate

L. nepalense - typically emerging late, whereby the bulbs have been planted in april, and, in addition, where of rather poor quality.

Several cultivars in different stages. From my 5 ´Tango´ hybrids (lowest right) only 1 has appeared above soil surface yet - bulbs were of extremely poor quality!

UPDATE 2009-05-22

2009-05-24T13:58:00.001-07:00

A lot is going on........... :)

The first "no name" orange Asiatic hybrid nearly in flower:

My most valuable plant at the moment: Kushi Maya, the first registered hybrid of Lilium nepalense:

UPDATE 2009-05-10

2009-05-10T02:26:00.000-07:00

Good growth can now be seen all over my small field:

Species & Hybrids List

2009-04-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

(as planted on April 08th, 2009)

SPECIES:
L. auratum, 3 http://www.the-genus-lilium.com/auratum.htm
L. lijiangense, 1 http://www.the-genus-lilium.com/lijiangense.htm
L. nepalense, 10 (bulbs) http://www.the-genus-lilium.com/nepalense.htm
L. pumilum, 5 http://www.the-genus-lilium.com/pumilum.htm
L. regale, 5 http://www.the-genus-lilium.com/regale.htm
L. taliense, 4 http://www.the-genus-lilium.com/taliense.htm
L. wardii, 2 http://www.the-genus-lilium.com/wardii.htm

Of course I have several more species on my terrace in large containers, however it was to late this spring to transplant them now, this may happen in 2010.............

HYBRIDS:
Anastasia, 3 (bulbs)
Beverlys Dream, 3
Conca D´Or, 5
Distinction, 3
Geisha Girl, 3
Golden Emperor, 5
Golden Stargazer, 5
Kushi Maya, 1
Mate Tereza, 1
Nymph, 3
Robert Swanson, 3
Sheherazade, 1
Danni Afrin, 3
Eyeliner, 5
Pink Perfection, 2
Rousseau, 5
Royal Sunset, 3
Stargazer, 2
Tango, 5 colours
Tiger Woods, 2
Umbellatum, 2

“no-name” Orientals, ~10 in diff. colours
“no-name” Asiatics, ~15 in different colours

LILY FIELD - The Beginning

2009-04-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

Start: April 08, 2009

I have been working with lilies for a rather long time, more or less as a hobby, since I am really fascinated of the wide range of colours and shapes that occur in lilies.

On the other hand, I run the international forum http://www.the-genus-lilium.com which deals - as the name clearly indicates - with the systematics of lily species occuring in the wild. So, it was only consequent to start with lilies on a larger basis than just grow them in pots where many species and hybrids grow for a few years and then start to degenerate. There have been also made available a lot of new or rather unknown species, mostly from China, that have not been extensively evaluated, neither as garden species, nor as partners for promising new hybrids.

So, the decision for me to start a "lily field" fell in winter of 2008/09, I have been searching around for a good possibility for about 5 months, and finally found a farmer in the near of Hall in Tyrol who gave me the possibility to take on lease a small field of about 100 sqm.

The following pics have been taken on April 13, 2009, 5 days after start:

Overview: Situated on the northern site of the valley, orientation south, about 100 sqm. A fence will be built in the course of the next days.

Only 5 days after planting, the first L. regale and L. ´Golden Emperor` have appeared above the soil´s surface: