Re: Better Lilies to try for medit climates

All:

     Of all the true Liliums that I've grown in
California to date, only one has done well for me:
Lilium candidum (Madonna Lily).  By the way, I've
never heard of any Lilium cadndidum hyrbrids, nor
color variations within this species.  Can someone
enlighten me, please?

     Someone made the comment about "lily-like"
flowers and I've had great success, as so many others
of you have had, with Crinum (and
Amarcrium/Crinodonna), Amaryllis (even Hippeastrum),
Brunsvigia (and Brunsdonna/Amarygia),
Vallota/Cyrtanthus, Nerine, and what-all.

     I'm sure there's some good Liliums with
potential.  I've seen Lillium formosanum do well in
the southeast and I think I saw it looking great at a
breeder's growing area in Orange County somewhere. 
It's a tall (5'+) Taiwan species with large trumpets
suffused purpl-ish brown.  I suspect there are other
southern Asian species which might show promise here.

     And let's not forget our native lilies.  Here in
California, we have at least three species/forms with
potential.  According to Marjorie Schmidt, author of
"Growing California Native Plants", Ll. pardalinum,
humboldtii, and washingtonianum purpurascens are all
"adaptable" to garden conditions.  I recently planted
L. humboldtii in my "woodland" garden (a copse of 4
Lyonothamnus) and so far it's doing well.  I'll let
you know next year.

     One last comment:  I've visited several lily
breeders in Holland (where most llily breeding is done
these days) many times over the last several years,
and there are two separate lines of breeding -- garden
lilies and lilies for cut flowers.  Although an
occasional cull from one breeding line may fit the
bill in another line, there is no overlap in the
actual breeding focus.  Hence, we do not end up with
many garden cultivars that were developed for the
commercial cut flower industry.

Joe Seals,
Santa Maria, CA


--- david feix <davidfeix@yahoo.com> wrote:
> --- Joe Seals <gardenguru@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Barbara, et al:
> > 
> >      I've tried for years to grow asiatic and
> > oriental
> > lilies in various California gardens (San Diego,
> SF
> > Bay Area, L.A.), never with success. As you've
> > experienced, theyve always "gone down hill" after
> > the
> > first year or so.
> > 
> >      My theory is that they just don't get the
> > appropriate climatic factors to encourage them to
> > stick around.  Much as we experience with so many
> > eastern and northern "hardy perennials" we try
> here
> > --
> > after a decent show the first year or two, they,
> > too,
> > go downhill.
> 
> This should be an interesting thread, if others can
> suggest which lilies have been good performers for
> them.  After visiting Seattle earlier this July, I
> was
> blown away by how many people were growing lilies up
> north, and I know that they are equally popular back
> east.  They always seem to be so much larger and
> more
> floriferous as well, never seeming to get 6~8feet
> tall
> here in California, even in the first year with
> largest size bulbs...  I would suspect that it is
> due
> to the combination of reasons that others have
> stated.
>  It sure would be nice to know what the best
> varieties
> are for our medit climates, as they are so beautiful
> in bloom.  Anyone else out there with suggestions
> for
> best species and cutltivars to try?
> 
> 
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