Lilly seeds and bulbs

Once again, the amazing expertise of those on this list for all things
geophytic has been made apparent once again. Having a keen interest in
finding which lilies will grow in warm weather locations, from
conversations some years ago (probably on the IBS list), I learned that
LL. longiflorum, formosanum, and philippinense were native to basically
tropical areas and should therefore grow well in Southern California
and Central Texas (my two main areas of interest). Even though they
seem fairly similar, they have a good scent and they do appear to do
well here. Then I discovered the L.A. (Longiflorum-Asiatic) hybrids
that Jim mentions. There are quite a few of them available these days,
but I am suspicious about what percentage of L. and what percentage of
A. any given cultivar is because some of them do very well and come
back each year, but others only bloom the first year and then disappear
for me. (So I suspect that some may be backcrossed to Oriental lilies
and are only 25% or less longiflorum.)
I have also discovered that the Trumpet and Aurelian lilies also do
well here for the most part. I'm now trying the Orienpet hybrids to see
how they do. L. candidum also does well here, and I think I got a
longiflorum-candidum hybrid (or something like that) and we'll see how
that does.

Now, however, I read that there are other species from tropical and
subtropical areas. (L. nobilissimum & L.
alexandrae & L. wallichianum var. neilgherrense) Thanks to those
experts among you for listing some of them. Of course, they appear to
be rarer than the three I already knew about. So the question arises
yet again: Whence are they available? Mail order nurseries, seed
suppliers, plant organization seed exchanges, etc.?

Also, having been numerous times to Honshu, Japan in their summers and
a couple of times to southern China in their summer, it is very very
warm and humid there at that time. Might those places also have native
Lily species that could either take or even enjoy a similar kind of
weather in Texas or the southern states of the U.S.? And what might
some of those species be? And are there any other hybrids between the
warm weather species that are on the horizon?

--Lee Poulsen
Pasadena area, California, USDA Zone 9-10

On May 13, 2005, at 4:20 PM, Jim McKenney wrote:

Darren, here's another suggestion for lilies in Mexico: try the
so-called LA
or longiflorum-Asiatic hybrids. These are hybrids with Lilium
longiflorum
and Asiatic hybrid (not to be confused with oriental hybrid) lilies in
their
background. In some, the Lilium longiflorum influence is not obvious
at all,
in others it is more apparent. I'm suggesting this group in particular
because some of them evidently have a very slight chill requirement.
They
also look like typical commercial cut-flower lilies (unlike some of the
other lilies suggested, which suggest funerals).

One more lily story: several years ago I was in Bangalore, India.
Bangalore
is in southern India, not far from Mysore, one of the old centers of
British
interests in India. The Nilgiri Hills were not too far off - as the
crow
flies, it was about 125 miles to Ootacamund, one of the well known
sites for
Lilium neilgherrense, and the whole time I was there I could not get
Lilium
neilgherrense out of my mind. When I told an Indian friend about this,
she
suggested that I hire a taxi cab for the weekend and head over. I
never made
it, and I still regret it.

As I was typing this, Jane's email arrived: so it's now Lilium
wallichianum
neilgherrense!