———_TILIES TRANSFORMED 
The development of new and more adaptable 
hybrids from choice but °**difficult’’ species 
By JAN de GRAAFF, 
(Ore.) 
Herman V. Wall photos, Courtesy Oregon Bulb Farms 
ILIUM CENTIFOLIUM grows high 
above a wild river in China, clinging 
to rocky crags, thrust out at right 
angles from red sandstone cliffs; in an- 
other area it grows among grass and low 
shrubs on open slopes. L. HENRYI grows 
on conglomerate rocks, among a tangle 
of small trees, tall shrubs and coarse 
herbs, in a region which has a summer 
rainfall of about 30 inches. L. HANSONI is 
found on a little island in the Japan 
Sea, off the east coast of Korea. Other 
lilies grow wild in Europe and still others 
in our own country. 
In its own habitat, each species is in 
harmony with its surroundings, its soil 
and its climate. The older the species, in 
fact, the more it is conditioned to live 
under the limitations imposed upon it. 
It must thrive on so many inches of aver- 
age rainfall. It must grow, flower and 
set seed under a given number of hours 
of daylight. It must withstand so many 
degrees of frost and so much summer 
heat, And it must adjust itself to a cer- 
The author is shown above with centifolium Olympic 
Hybrids which have great vigor, size and fine form. 
tain amount of variation from what 
might be considered “normal.” 
As a matter of fact, lilies possess con- 
siderable ability to adjust themselves to 
hardships in the form of changed cli- 
matic conditions. If they did not, they 
would never have become the beloved 
garden plants they are. Nevertheless, it 
would be foolish to assume that an Ori- 
ental plant conditioned to grow under an 
average of 30 inches of summer rainfall 
will continue to flourish if suddenly 
moved to an American garden where it 
receives almost no summer rain at all. 
You simply cannot expect a lily, in one 
or two generations, to cast off or lose 
the characteristics that were imposed 
upon its development by its native en- 
vironment. 
What, then, are the chances of ob- 
taining lilies that will thrive under our 
garden conditions, quite different from 
those to which the wild lilies are accus- 
tomed? Until recent years the answer 
would have been that the chances were 
none too good. Many wild 
lilies had been imported, 
but nearly all of them had 
died. 
Notable exceptions, of 
course, there were. The 
REGAL lily thrives in the 
United States; the TIGER 
lily grows as well here as 
in its native land, perhaps 
better; UMBELLATUM lilies 
have become thoroughly at 
home and are known to all 
American gardeners. Add 
to these L. CANDIDUM, or 
Maponna lily, L. specto- 
SUM RUBRUM and ALBUM 
and L. HENRYI and we have 
a sextet of lilies that have 
become almost the entire 
representation of the genus 
lilium in the gardens of our 
country. 
But what about all the others? Why 
are there no stocks of the lovely L. cEr- 
NUUM, with delicately violet colored 
flowers? Why such small stocks of L. 
MARTAGON ALBUM, or of L. CONCOLOR? 
Why practically none of L. NEPALENSE, 
L. OCHRACEUM and so many others that 
are so desirable and beautiful? 
It is my contention that these lilies, 
which have not made themselves at home 
in our gardens, have too limited a toler- 
- ance to changed conditions. They are 
too rigid in their requirements. They 
have become specially adapted in so 
many respects that they cannot adjust 
themselves to the many changes of a 
totally different environment. 
Another point that must be emphasized 
is that a lily bulb imported from abroad 
has already suffered a great deal on its 
journey. It is a simple truth that lilies 
are never dormant in the same sense that 
tulips, daffodils and other so-called Dutch 
bulbs are dormant. Consequently their 
roots should not be allowed to com- 
pletely dry out and they should not be 
out of the ground longer than is ab- 
solutely necessary. For this reason, no 
imported lily can give its best perform- 
ance, for, whether it comes from Japan, 
England, Holland or France, the period 
between digging and replanting is far 
too long for optimum performance. 
In the case of lilies collected “in the 
wild” the time-lapse between digging and 
replanting is usually much longer and 
the abuses to which the bulbs are sub- 
jected are usually much more severe. As 
if the rigors of such transportation were 
not enough, the bulbs are then planted in 
an alien soil and made to grow in a for- 
eign climate, both totally different from 
the conditions to which they had been 
accustomed. 
A bulb so treated will make a supreme 
effort, the supreme effort. Exerting all its 
strength, it will flower once more and 
may even set seed. Then, as a rule, it 
will die. The shock of travel and its new 
surroundings, followed by the effort of 
flowering and producing seed, have ex- 
hausted its vitality. This applies to all 
“difficult” lilies and also, to a lesser de- 
gree, to imported “easy” lilies. In the 
