Currently I grow neither Lilium rosthornii nor the typical Lilium henryi. Both have bloomed here often in the past; in fact, Lilium henryi was among the first lilies I grew as a teenager over forty years ago. However, one of the several yellow-flowered forms of Lilium henryi is blooming now. The one I have has flowers which are a bit bigger than typical Lilium henryi; the color is a particularly appealing bright light yellow. Unfortunately, the stem is weak and so without staking the garden display is thus compromised. Nevertheless it's an exquisite lily, and it's easily grown. The long flexuous stem and the attenuated pedicels of the individual flowers - the size of an orange, they hang like paper lanterns well out from the main stem - make this one of the most graceful lilies in the garden. In the past, these yellow-flowered Lilium henryi were often called var. citrinum; as far as I'm concerned, that's a name best avoided. When Lilium henryi was discovered in China by Western botanists, it was a small plant, much like Lilium resthornii as we now know it. When brought into cultivation, Lilium henryi soon morphed into a real giant: some early growers reported ten foot stems. Talk about regression towards the mean: it's like those immigrant families whose grandchildren are so much taller and bigger. Lilium henryi is probably the most important lily to be introduced from China ever. Those of you who have seen it but don't know much about the history of lilies will probably balk at that statement. It's true that Lilium henryi is not one of the more prepossessing of lilies. The forms with floppy stems in particular give it a bad name. But the importance of Lilium henryi has little to do with what it looks like. Its vigor under garden conditions almost everywhere, its general disease resistance and its virus tolerance have made it an important parent of several groups of hybrid lilies. The importance of Lilium henryi is that it provided the tough constitution which made spectacular garden lilies a reality for growers just about wherever lilies are grown. A century ago it was used to produce Lilium x kewense, the first of what would eventually be thought of as Aurelian hybrid lilies. These, in their primary form, are crosses between L. henryi and various trumpet lilies. It was Leslie Woodriff's successful crossing of Lilium henryi and Lilium speciosum about a half century ago which laid the ground work for the modern super lilies. These modern super lilies arose when breeding lines involving on the one had crosses between Lilium henryi and trumpet lilies were crossed with the henryi x speciosum crosses. This latter cross is very difficult, and the early generation hybrids from these crosses were accomplished by embryo rescue and tissue culture. The resulting garden lilies, the oriental-trumpet crosses, are sometimes fertile and easily crossed among themselves. If you like lilies with flowers the size of small plates carried twenty to thirty on a seven to eight foot stem, these are your lilies. Many of these are now readily available and surprisingly inexpensive. Woodriff's speciosum x henryi hybrid was named 'Black Beauty'. It too is readily available and well worth having. Most of the trumpet-oriental hybrids are now finished for the year here in my garden. Lilium 'Black Beauty' is just hitting its stride. Compared to the monsters mentioned above, it has smaller flowers which are very graceful. There is a mild fragrance, too. The flowers are small, but the plant is not: it can go to seven feet or more and have fifty flowers on a stem. It's got the potential to keep the butterflies happy for two or more weeks. If it hadn't been for the introduction of Lilium henryi in the late nineteenth century, we wouldn't have any of this now. Two of the great and hugely influential Chinese lilies, Lilium henryi and Lilium regale, have had had their centenary years: Lilium henryi first bloomed in the West in 1889 and Lilium regale in 1905 (you won't find the name Lilium regale mentioned back then: it was not named until 1912 or 1913; both dates are given). Oddly, the lily world ignored both anniversaries. Nor did any reporters show up for the little celebrations held here in my garden. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where I'm on the lookout for Lycoris. My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/