Interesting article on B&D site about extinct trumpets

Leawood was asking about trumpets and I was noting a few that I had and that many were commercially extinct. It turns out that many are extinct, period, and that many, like Black Dragon and Green Magic (both of which I hoped to acquire), are extinct. I know that OHG said that the Black Dragons being offered in the market are not what they appear to be. The seed parents of many of them were washed away in a flood. The strains being offered in their places are weaker and weaker with each generation.

Everyone does not share my preoccupation with trumpets (they are my favorite type of lily) but for those who are interested or are thinking about buying them, you might find this article interesting.

http://www.bdlilies.com/extinct.html

Donna

That B&D Lilies website contains a wealth of information on lilies. I agree with you Donna, there is a beauty in Trumpets that simply can't be duplicated by todays mass produced, mixed up hybrids! You have some very special ones--take good care of them. Here's a picture of Tropical Isle (clone) I have growing here. It was 106'F the day these pictures were taken last year, so the pink edge had faded somewhat. It has a double nose this year, a sign it might be dividing soon. This Spring I picked up Moonlight and Anaconda (both Clones) from The Lilynook in Canada.

This message was edited Jun 5, 2013 8:28 PM

Oh, how beautiful! People seem preoccupied by Orienpets - they are very popular with new lily growers. I love Anastasia but many of them are in relatively brash colors - mixes of red and yellow. And like Knockout roses (I am an heirloom fan) they are displacing trumpets.

I see I'd better head over to The Lily Nook!

Thank you.

Thanks for the heads up on the B%D article.It answers some questions I have had about their bulbs.
I guess I better take special care of my 5 year old Copper Kings and African Queens.I had Moonlight strain but it just doesnt seem to be returning.

You absolutely do need to preserve them. I think that they are pretty much gone except for the North American Lily Society, where you can actually grow some very old bulbs from seed that members have.

I'm still stunned that you can't order Black Dragon. It was, for me, an "oh yeah, I'll get that later" bulb because it has similarities to Regale. I order the BD's from Old House Garden, but they never appeared. So what did he send me to replace them? The now out of commerce Silver Sunburst!

B&D offered a mix in 2007 and CopperKing and African Queen were in it.

I think that they are lovely, but the orange and yellow clashed with everything in my yard. They are definitely one of the more trumpet friendly companies.

One of the most intriguing was 'Longidragon', which was an Easter lily Black Dragon clone. Now gone. There is one I hauled out of the ground amid tree trunks at home that is in my garden. Rabbits nipped it for years. I finally got one and brought it here, and the darned rabbits nipped it again last year. But I think I have it this year. There is s strong stem coming up that may be it, and if so, I will post it.

http://www.bdlilies.com/l5060.html

My clutch of gold and melon lilies are all in one side of my house and not in the general garden population.
#2 African Queen
#3Golden Splendor
#4 Moonlight strain

The North American Lily Society, of which I am a member, is offering archived seed (from last year) for what they term 'Black Dragon crossed with similar) and Emerald Temple Strain. at $1.00 a pack, I'm going to bite. I've grown seeds of theirs before and they have always been great.

This message was edited Jun 30, 2013 8:49 PM

Donna, how long does it take from the time the seed germinates to form a bulb?

Well, it depends. on the lily.

I have put Longiflorum/formosanum seeds on seed starting mix in January and had blooms in September of the same year (the lily below).

Lilium candidum, following the same processes as above, takes a good three years to flower, but it's a tricky one.

On average, I would say that they take two years to flower. The species tend to take far longer. If you buy the bulbs they often don't bloom for 3-4 years.

So when I am picking seeds to grow, I usually choose those with immediate epigeal germination (they germinate in a few days by sprouting tiny leaves above ground - immediate gratification.)

I like that immediate gratification; not for blooming, but some growth to show it is alive. There are a few containers that I know have been planted at least 2 months and have shown no growth at all. I don't know if they are slow growers or if the lightning fast chipmunks who have dinner at my expense. Mostly they go after aroid bulbs (caladiums and calla lilies), but I can tell when the soil has been dug. They must be the tastiest bulbs because they don't go after the lilies. The tricyrtis (toad lily) does not show any signs of life.

The trumpets in bloom now are covered with little black insects, I guess from all the rain. It is the first year that I'm seeing them bloom as they had been so destroyed by the red lily beetle. I had six lilies that I believe were orienpets in my garden by the front porch, and that is one of the areas where I see the chipmunks. This year only 1 of the six grew. When it blooms, it will find a new home.
Marcia

Sprinkle Milorganite around your lilies, and the chipmunks will leave them alone. I have chipmunks in my yard that used to dig everywhere but with this little trick they stopped.

Speaking of containers, I am still experimenting wit the lilies I brought here two seasons ago. I originally took them out of storage and put them in the ground in May (so, of course, most did not bloom). I moved things around and experimented with trumpets and orienpets in shade, and that is working. But I have several lilies that got shaded out by perennials, so I just dug them up, put them in pots, and then either put them on my patio (where a bunch of lilies are about to bloom) or in pots in the back yard. And Milorganite just went into those pots. That, and freshly ground black pepper for the squirrels. Otherwise, the earth in those pots would be disturbed by morning.

I still have the Milorganite left from the huge bag from last year. I'll try it again. It did not seem to help much, but I'm always willing to try. I've been covering the newest plantings. How do you get rid of chipmunks? Glue traps? I think they have found a home on my front porch and in the hedges. I think I will try Milorganite everywhere.

I don't think the chipmunks have bothered the lilies much, except for the toad lily. The lilies were planted the earliest. However, they seem to go after the caladiums and calla lilies. They only go after them before the bulbs have broken the soil, so I'll bet they get bitter once they start growing. Most of the new lilies from this year had already started growing, so they were pretty much ok. All of last year's lilies were well established in containers, with nice tight soil.

I just learned about milorganite last year. I bought a bag from HD for $16 and used it religiously every two weeks til we went on vacation in late June. When ever it rained I'd run out and sprinkle it as soon as the sun came out in between times. It worked!!! I didn't have any problems with deer or rabbits. I actually got flowers. My neighbors were eaten down to the grass. While we were gone the girl taking care of the yard didn't sprinkle it and sure enough, the varmints are back. I think next year I'm going to have to resort to netting everything before we leave.

Wow!