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What is perilous about tiger lilies?

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By Chelsie Vandaveer

May 15, 2003

Sponsored By: Spring Hill Nursery—>Click here.

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Suggested Reading—>Click here.

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Killer Picks: Bedding Lily Mixture, Monte Negro Lily, American Spirit Lily—>Click here.

Garden Pleasure Lily Tree, Oriental Lily Collection, Naturalized Shade Garden—>Click here.

The tiger lily (Lilium lancifolium Thunberg) is native to eastern Asia—China, Korea, and Japan. Tiger lilies have been cultivated for centuries in the Orient, but only for a little over 200 years in Europe and the Americas. The lily was a puzzle when first introduced to western gardeners; the stalks produced large beautiful orange flowers, but no seeds.

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The tiger lily grows from a bulb covered with leaf-like scales. A single flowering stem arises from the center of the bulb. The stem has alternate, lance-shaped leaves and terminates with the flowers. After blooming in the summer, the stem dies back down to the bulb.

Even though tiger lilies did not produce seeds, gardeners found they could propagate the plants. In the axils of the upper leaves, those closest to the flowers, the tiger lily produces bulbils. Removed and potted, the bulbils become lily bulbs.

Gardeners also discovered that scales removed from fully-grown bulbs and potted would produce bulblets which also grow into lily bulbs. By happenstance, the first tiger lily known to western gardeners was a triploid variety (3 sets of chromosomes). Other varieties were later found that were diploid (2 sets of chromosomes) and could produce seeds.

For all the beauty and ease of cultivation, tiger lilies received a bad reputation. The plants are highly susceptible to lily mosaic virus. The disease does not affect tiger lilies, but the plants served as a reservoir for the virus. Aphids that visit an infected tiger lily vector the virus to other Lilium species that decline and die.

Lily mosaic virus spreads throughout the plant—leaves, flowers, bulbs, bulbils, and bulblets all carry the viral particles with one notable exception. Seeds from the diploid tiger lilies are protected from the virus.

(Note: All tiger lilies sold by nurseries today must be mosaic virus-free. This is the same virus that caused the tulip streaking which started a speculation bubble. See Plants that Changed History, April 2, 2002)

Den Virtuella Floran has three great photographs of tiger lilies taken by Arne and Anna-Lena Anderberg. To view the photographs, click on the link:

http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/mono/lilia/liliu/lililan.html

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge the images.

The Plant & Pest Diagnostic Laboratory at Purdue University has posted a great close-up of the bulbils in the axils of the tiger lily leaves. To view the photograph, click on the link:

http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/ppdl/weeklypics/7-21-03.html

Click on the image to view the bulbils in the axils of the tiger lily leaves.

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Unique Professionally Designed Gardens

Springhill Nursery®

Spring Hill Nursery has unique gardens professionally designed by experts to take the guesswork out of gardening. Whether you are looking for a three season garden, foundation garden, or a garden to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, Spring Hill Nursery has created a step-by-step design just for you. Click here - $20 off your first order at Spring Hill Nursery!

Bedding Lily Mixture

Breck's®

We think you'll find these dwarf Asiatic lilies to be the nearly perfect summer bedding plant! Our professionally selected mixture includes only the very best varieties, all recognized for their diminutive height, showy flowers and carefree growth. upward-facing flowers in an array of colours - including red, orange, yellow and white, some of them speckled - create a bold tapestry that lasts for weeks in beds or naturalized areas. Also superb for containers and elegant in cut-flower arrangements. Bulbs increase in number and beauty year after year.

Zones 3-8. 14-16 cm bulbs.
Height: 12 - 15"
Bloom Time: Mid Summer

This Item Ships In The Spring Click here - Free $25 off any order of $50 or more at Brecks Bulbs [More Lilies...]

Lily, Monte Negro-One Cent Sale!

Springhill Nursery®

Lilium 'Monte Negro' (Asiatic) - Tall, dark and handsome, the Monte Negro Lily will enchant you with its deep red blooms and black spots! In the garden or cut-flower bouquets, these rich colored blooms make a dramatic statement.

12-14 cm bulbs. Zone 3 to 9

Click here for $20 off your first order at Spring Hill Nursery! [More Bulbs...] [All On Sale...]

American Spirit Lily

Springhill Nursery®

The American Spirit Lily is creamy white with vibrant pink and gold star; 5-6' tall.

Spring Hill Nurseries, one of American’s oldest and most trusted purveyors of plants, is excited to offer a remarkable new kind of lily: the American Lily Series. Bred and grown in America, specifically for American gardens, there all-American Lilies are true originals!

American Lilies are a new series of Orienpet lilies, lily hybrids that combine the exotic beauty of Oriental lilies with the strength and stature of trumpet lilies. But unlike most other lilies, which have been American Lilies have been selected for their ability to grow and bloom in the garden.

This means that American Liles are not only beautiful, but they also are among the most hardy, disease resistant lilies available.

American Lilies all have large, richly colored flowers up to 8 inches across, with thick, waxy petals that simply refuse to wilt. Blooms appear in midsummer and last a full 3 weeks or more. All emit a luscious, soft perfume that captivates without overpowering. And all have strong, sturdy stems that grow 4-7’ tall.

American Lilies are perfect garden lilies-ideal for borders, naturalized areas, and even large patio pots. But with blooms and stems like these, who could resist cutting them, too? Our advice: plant plenty, of several varieties, for glorious bouquets in your garden and inside your home! 14-16 cm bulbs.

Lilium Orienpet

American Spirit Lily Ships In The Spring Click here - Save $20 on $50 order

Unique Characteristics: This 'American Series' Orienpet lily is a cross between a Trumpet lily and an Oriental lily resulting in extraordinary flower size and substance. A common characteristic of the American Series lilies is that rather than producing many daughter bulbs, these lilies put all their energy into developing large mother bulbs resulting in their large impressive stature. The bulbs are slow to split apart. Unlike most dutch bred lilies that are selected for their cut flower or out-of-season forcing ability, these are bred in field conditions with unpredictable weather conditions and have turned out excellent.

Additional Information: Division VIII lilies. Cross of Trumpet lilies and Oriental lilies.

[More Bulbs...] [All On Sale...]

Garden Pleasure Lily Tree

Breck's®

Imagine a lily so tall you can see its blooms at eye level.

Imagine never having to bend over to sniff the exquisite perfume.

Imagine stems so tall, strong and vigourous you can actually lean a bicycle against them!

Lily Trees are the breathtaking result from years of careful breeding. Members of the new ''Orienpet'' hybrid family, Breck’s® Lily Trees offer you all the advantages of both Trumpet and Oriental lilies – massive, upward-facing trumpets of vivid colour, delicate fragrance and exceptional reliability.

All this on incredibly sturdy stems that reach up 3-4 feet the first year. 5-6 feet the next year and upwards to 6-8 feet in three years! This rapid growth comes in part from the Lily Tree’s unique ability to offshoot new stems from a single bulb. It’s almost like planting a lily flower shrub!

Carefree and easy to grow, Lily Trees are ideal for planting at the back of borders or the corner of beds where their massive height can be fully appreciated. They are excellent visual anchors that will help define your landscape. Bright green foliage forms a magnificent backdrop for other lilies as well as other perennials. 14-16 cm bulbs. Zones 3-10.

Light: Sun to part shade
Height: 3-8'
Bloom Time: Mid to Late Summer

Garden Pleasure Lily Tree...White flowers with soft red strokes are a pleasurable feast for the eyes.

Garden Pleasure Lily Tree Ships In The Spring Click here - Free $25 off any order of $50 or more at Brecks Bulbs

Oriental Lily Collection

Breck's®

The varieties in this collection represent the finest hybrids from the world's premium Lily growers - each chosen by Breck's Dutch Bulb experts in Holland on the merits of its dramatic colours, exquisite form, alluring fragrance and proven hardiness.

We will select 12 impressively large, healthy bulbs (14-16 cm.) and ship them to you at the proper planting time for your area. Your Lilies are easy to care for, asking only for water, well-drained soil and a garden spot with full to partial sunlight. The bulbs are so hardy, they need no lifting.

By mid-summer, you'll be treated to a parade of dazzling long-lived blooms, some as big as 8" across, atop sturdy stems and lush foliage. Your Lilies will also multiply in size and beauty year after year.

Breck's Oriental Lily Collection includes 12 top quality 14-16 cm bulbs. You get two each of:

Black Beauty - Fragrant 3 inch blooms have recurved petals in a deep mahogany-red hue, with dramatic, white edges and a characteristic green throat. Noted for its extremely high bud count.
Dizzy - One of the world’s showiest Oriental Lilies, with broad, overlapping petals of contrasting colours: white with pink flame, which gracefully fades back to white.
Broadway - Soft pink recurved petals are thick and waxy to the touch. The petals overlap each other to create a "bowl" shape effect.
Stargazer - The most widely grown Lily in the world. Perfect cup-shaped, white-edged crimson blossoms create a showy midsummer sensation. It is equally impressive in gardens, containers, or in fragrant cut-flower bouquets.
Opus I - Pure white colour offset by striking orange stamens and medium green foliage. Compared to many other Lilies, Opus I has one of the longest flowering periods.
And two FREE Golden Stargazer - This much-sought-after hybrid was introduced to the world by Breck’s. The Golden Stargazer is the first of a new Lily classification created by mixing Oriental and Trumpet/Aurelian hybrids. The result is a creamy yellow colour that eluded even the best hybridizers. We’ll send two of these exotic hybrids to you, Free with your Oriental Lily Collection!

Oriental Lily Collection Ships In The Spring Click here - Free $25 off any order of $50 or more at Brecks Bulbs [More lilies...]

Naturalized Shade Garden

Springhill Nursery®

For tranquil beauty, there's nothing to compare with a naturalized garden in some shady spot—a display that feels as though Mother Nature herself had chosen a complementary selection of shade-loving plants. For this Naturalized Shade Garden, Spring Hill has combined 39 special plants which can transform any shady area of approx. 60 sq. ft. into an island of serene beauty—a blend of textures with inspiring touches of color.

Included in this garden are three different varieties of hosta, which are delightful in combination with the arching fronds of hardy Ostrich Plume Fern. And for color, there are shade-loving plants which will be in bloom from spring well into late summer. All are easy to plant, and like a true naturalized garden, require only a minimum of care to provide years of charm and beauty. These coordinated plants can be arranged as a border, bed or to bring beauty to a north-facing corner or foundation - a place where you thought nothing except weeds would ever grow!

In this collection you will receive:

3 Ostrich Plume Ferns
1 Pink Bleeding Heart
15 Perennial Lily Bargain Bag
7 Daylily Bargain Bag
3 Mixed Monarda
1 Blue Hosta
1 Green and White Hosta
1 Royal Standard Hosta
1 Pink Dwarf Bleeding Heart
3 Chantreyland Violas
6 Lily-of-the-Valley
3 Forget-Me-Nots
3 Red Coral Bells

1 Garden equals 48 prime-quality plants
(A $151.85 Catalog Value.)

Naturalized Shade Garden Ships In The Spring Click here - Save $20 on $50 order

This collection includes:

Ostrich Plume Fern (3), Luxuriant, graceful fronds reach a length of 24-36'' long and are 18'' wide.
Pink Bleeding Heart (1), Long, arching sprays drip with dozens of inflated pink heart-shaped flowers with dainty white tears.
Perennial Lily Bargain Bag (15), Asiatic lily varieties produce rich colored blooms.
Daylily Bargain Bag (7), The mainstay of the summer garden!
Mixed Monarda (3), A delightful mixture of white, pink, purple and red flower heads adorn gardens and borders for weeks.
Blue Hosta (1), Unusually large, blue-green leaves. Lavender blooms. This is a low maintenance ground cover.
Green and White Hosta (1), Two-tone ornamental with lilac flowers grows 15-20'' tall. Is a low maintenance ground cover.
Royal Standard Hosta (1), Shapely, lush foliage. Scented white flowers. Grows 24-30'' tall, 48'' across. Is a low maintenance ground cover.
Pink Dwarf Bleeding Heart (1), Super-hardy, carefree plant is covered with pink pendant flowers spring through early summer, again in fall.
Chantreyland Viola (3), "Everblooming" variety brings reliable rays of sunshine from early spring through summer.
Lily-of-the-Valley (6), Clusters of fragrant white bells on 8-10'' stems appear in mid to late spring amid emerald-green leaves.
Forget-Me-Nots (3), Decorative, low-growing perennial is loaded with hundreds of bright blue flowers.
Red Coral Bells (3), Graceful 15-20'' spikes with crimson flowers above mounds of light foliage .