Looking for a memory....

Hi
About a hundred years ago...(ok, not quite that long but seems like it...more like 45 years ago) I help an elderly lady weed her garden (she paid me 25 cents an hour). My question is ...she had tiger lilies....orange with spots...when I search for lilies , what name should I search under to find something like these old lilies? Thanks so much. By the way...that lady had been a school teacher and believe you me, when it came time to pay me, it was to the minute that I had worked....no rounding up..LOL Janetlee50

Orange Tiger Lily, L lancifolium, previously L tigrinum. There are some wonderful hybids with differnt colors. The Twinkle series has red, white, orange, pink, and I've seen a melon colored one. The heirloom orange tiger is a known mosaic virus carrier. I suggest you select a hybrid instead.

Thank you much for your reply and info concering the lilies...Janetlee

Hey Janetlee, I'll give you 50 cents an hour if you come help me weed? I'll even round up for you? :) Please :) :)

If you have other lilies, you might want to be careful of where you plant your Tiger Lilies. I think it was Moby that mentioned something about Tiger Lilies carrying a virus that can infect your other lilies and kill them off.... You might ask Moby.

Diann

Thanks Diann, ........I'll pass on the weeding job.....besides if you saw my garden full of weeds, you wouldn't probably give me that much. My daughter just moved to Carroll, Iowa.....is that close to you?? Thanks again Janetlee

Not all tiger lilies are carriers, just the heirloom orange. The hybrids are not carriers, but they can catch the virus just like any lily, if infected by aphids (or other sap suckers) that have previously feasted on virused plants.

Janetlee, no Carrol is on the other side of the state from me. However, it is on the Lincoln Highway aka Hwy. 30. So, if she was to get on 30 and go East she get to me sooner or later. ;) I'm in Lisbon.

beaker_ch, thank you for bringing clarity to my muddled explanation. :)

Diann

Beaker or anyone, I've been looking for tiger lilies too and the ones I'm finding look more like regular lilies with spots than the tigers I remember from when I was a kid. They don't look in the pictures to have very recurved petals unlike the photo you posted.

Is that because they're hybrids? Or just bad photography on the part of the vendors (a real possibility.)

No, the hybrids should have the recurved petals. I just got the Old House Gardens fall catalog and they have a heirloom orange tiger (Splendons) that they say is certified virus free. This is what you guys are looking for. They have an on-line site. I find their bulbs a little on the spendy side, but good quality products. I'm considering one called White Henryi.

Hart - Some of the bulb sellers really don't know their lilies very well, so I would suspect if some of these guys saw spots, they decided to call it a tiger. Sometimes I think they make up their own names for bulbs which is a huge headache when trying to identify what you have. Make sure you are dealing with a reputable dealer. Check them out on the Watchdog first. I've had so many misnamed bulbs this year, I'm really going to try to resist anyone who is not on my top 3 list. The Lily Nook, The Lily Garden and B&D Lilies. For sure I'm going to stay away from sellers with not really good ratings.

Thanks, Beaker. I was looking at these
http://www.johnscheepers.com/catview.cgi?_fn=Item&_recordnum=7705&_category=Lilies:Tigrinum

See what I mean about them looking like regular lilies?

I don't see any tiger lilies at B&B. Lily Nook is in Canada. Can they ship to the US?

Old House Gardens is about double the price at Scheepers. Yeeks.

JanetLee,

Look for Port Alberni Tiger. That is a registered lily that does not carry the virus.

On the other hand, if you have a large garden, like on a farm, you can grow the virus carrier -we call it Lizzy Borden - Somewhere far far away from your other liies. Further away than aphids can fly.

There are also many orange spotted recurved lilies that you could grow, instead of 'Lizzie Borden'.

inanda

Your link didn't work. I also found them at Bluestone; 3 for 6.95. Is that a better price?

http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/BLITS.html

Thanks Beaker! Didn't think to look there.