For Show 
The Mid-Century Hybrids 
by Noble H. Logan—Oakland, California 
Reprinted from the Lily Year Book of the North American Lily Society, 1953. 
This group, consisting of approximately seventeen named varieties, was intro- 
duced in 1949 by the Oregon Bulb Farms. In 1950 some of these bulbs were 
obtained and forced into bloom for the 1951 Show. At that time nothing was 
known, locally at least, about what could be done towards getting them into 
bloom earlier than their normal time which here is in early June. Forcing in that 
group was started much too early, and they finally had to be held back, but a 
sizeable number, probably 150, were exhibited. The First Award of Merit, which 
is the highest award in the California Spring Garden Show, was granted our 
exhibit on the basis of the appearance of these plants. This carried a $500.00 
prize which went into the Garden Club treasury. This pleasant experience inspired 
us to make the effort on which this report is based, and we again won the First 
Horticultural Award of Merit with the exhibit. 
These plants force very quickly and easily. They stand high temperatures 
well and few, if any, bulb losses occur during the actual forcing, but some result 
later from the prolonged high temperatures. It will be noted in the following 
table that most of these varieties first bloomed two or more weeks before the 
Spring Garden Show opened on April 26th. These figures of course are based on 
first bloom, however some of them, notably Valencia, came on so early that they 
missed the Show entirely. When it was recognized that they were coming into 
bloom too fast, they were removed from the glass house, but this coincided with a 
long spell of hot weather, hence they could not be held back. One disadvantage 
I was under in this whole program was that I was unable to gain access to the 
glass house on week ends. 
One of these week ends was tremendously warm at about the time the buds 
on these plants were an inch or so long. Almost overnight they began elongating 
rapidly, and after that there was just no holding them back. This heat did not 
damage the plants or buds. It will be seen that from the time that first growth 
is visible until the appearance of the buds in these varieties is very short being 
only about three weeks, and on an average the plants will bloom approximately 
one month later, or in other words about fifty to fifty-five days from the time 
of first growth until first bloom. Thus it can be seen they are a very satisfactory 
glass house plant. Mature bulbs produce relatively large numbers of flowers which 
give a tremendous mass of color when grouped. This year fifty Valencia were 
forced but were not placed in the glass house until mid-February. They bloomed 
exactly on time for the show. The following gives the details of the performance 
of the Mid-Century Hybrids. 
Number Height Buds Average 
of Forcing First First in First | Number 
Variety Potted Bulbs Began Growth Bloom Inches Visible Blooms 
Campfire 10/11 12 1/17 2/4 4/8 30” 2/25 4 
Fireflame 10/4 12 1/7 2/2 Aa 18” 2/15 8 
Pagoda 10/11 12 1/7 2/1 3/25 36” 2/20 43 
Valencia 10/4 50 A Aes 3/20 2A 2/20 8-10 
Serenade 10/11 12 1752/5 41567 eo 2S eG 
Enchant. 10/11 501/17 1/25, 3/25 367 2/20 ae 
Bolero 10/11 12° 1/17" 2/4) 410 36> 955 
Harlequin 10/4 25 1/17 1/28. 3/28 24” 9/15 5 
Harmony 10/11 120 7 1/28 4/1 24” 9/8 
