Silk Road

YAY! They're on the way!

Rococo is pricey but I got it through the PNWLS that Magnolia referred me to, and in fact she was generous and sweet enough to gift me a first year's membership! I cannot remember the exact price, but Rococo was dramatically cheaper than the 3/$70 listed on LG's site.

These are Rococo's - kind of down-facing but the deepest yellow OT I have ever seen.

Oh I just went to LG and Rococo is reduced - now $50 for three bulbs. High I know, but it is such a catch!! $17.50 for an individual bulb.

This message was edited Apr 16, 2009 7:40 PM

This message was edited Apr 16, 2009 7:43 PM

That magnolia is an enabler extraordinaire isn't she. I picked up a bulb of Rococo last fall from the PNWLS sale too. Can't wait to see it bloom!

Not looking, not looking at pictures. No more lilies this spring. Well, maybe just afew :-)) It really is lovely.

Who me? ;) Enabler?

I really need to join the PNWLS...and soon!

Darn you Steve!...you just had to do some enabling didn't you! LOL Mags has been telling me about the savings and selections available from PNWLS too- I may have to break down and join. And I've grown so fond of tall Lilies with downward facing blooms, it makes Rococo hard to resist. I think it has L.henryii in its genetic background, and those seem to be some of the most garden worthy varieties. Is it fragrant? Fragrance seems to be the one thing missing from some of the OTs with L.henryii genes.

Sorry, but what is PNWLS?

Donna

Pacific North West Lily Society

Glad I could help, Neal ^_^

Many on here have "enabled" me many, many times. Unfortunately this can be a very expensive hobby!

Donna you should join - I would think this would be right up your alley, Lily connoisseur that you are! The fall sale the society has enables you to get bulbs at much less than standard retail cost in many cases. Lily Garden and Buggy both participate, as well as Northwest which mags tells me is same as B&D (isn't that correct, Tracey?) One-stop shopping of several of our favorite vendors!

I'm actually really happy that you brought this up Steve. One of my favorite things that I have ever learned of through DG. Now I am involved in the lily society too and am really enjoying that a whole lot.

There are two sales per year, fall & spring. Our spring sale just finished, but the links to the prices and growers/vendors are still up. Check out the selection:

http://www.pnwls.org/id21.html

Nice prices

Oh, wow, thank you Mags, Steve and Neal. I'm a member of NALS and the Wisconsin Illinois society, but the latter doesn't have the ability to mail bulbs and they meet in Eau Claire (Stevie, I think you know how far that is..) Going to their site made me nostalgic because I have been growing NALS seeds for years, and one of the last I put in (and it's peeking out) is a candidum Cascade Strain developed by Ed McRae.

What a dummy! I've been purchasing from TLG/Columbia Platte and B&D for years. That's where I got Anastasia, Ariadne and a bunch of others. Do I want to belong to three lily societies? You bet!!!! Sending in my membership today.

Thanks again, you scandalous enablers!

Donna

Oh WOW! The prices!!!!!!

Donna

Thanks so much!!!! My membeship is on the way and I'm not even allowed to buy anything this year.

I was so heartbroken to hear that Eddie had died. He was so sweet to me. I got a lot of my lillies from him one year including a Yelloween that he talked me into. I don't really like it ( I prefer downfacing flowers and the colour is to harsh for me) but I hang on to it because it came from him. He was such a nice man.

Yehudith

I love that they mail order bulbs. I love that they have a great selection from people that actually grow and hybridize the lilies. With each sale, I love to see the new surprises that await. Something only a lily connoisseur could appreciate.

Although I never knew or met Ed McRae, I do feel like I have an understanding of what great influence he had on the lily world. His book, I read and reread, and seem to learn more each time I do. When I first joined PNWLS, his bulbs were still a part of the sale. He had some wonderful lilies there. I sure miss those Ed McRae bulbs.

yehudith, how did you meet Ed? That's neat, I'd hand onto that 'Yelloween' too ;) It's special when it has a connection like that. Very cool.

B & D does not participate in the sales. "Northwest" is the former name of "Mak Lilies and Perennials". Johann Mak is the hybridizer of many well known lilies in commerce.

pard is correct. B&D is not a vendor to the PNWLS, but they carry some of the Mak bulbs in their listings on the B&D Lilies website.

Actually it was at the Lily Show here at the botanical garden last year. He's the one that filled up the back of my van with lilies that I wasn't supposed to buy. He was so so sweet and kind with just the right amount of dottiness. I think that's what drew me to him first. I'm a geriactirics nurse and he made me feel so much at home. I ended up spending my entire time there with him walking me around and explaining and showing things to me, then out of the blue he just picked up some cut stems that hadn't been put in an arrangement and presented them to my daughter like she was a grown up lady. I was going to take home maybe a pot or two, but he just kept putting another one in my arms saying I "just had to have this one". Then he'd go on to explain why. We ended up with a whole cart full. He then talked the security guard into opening up the back door and escorted my to my van. While I'm loading them in and saying "OMG my husband's going to kill me" he countinued with his tutorial on lily culture. My last sight of him was this dear white haired man standing on the sidewalk infront of the green house waving to me while my daughter hung out the back window from her car seat clutching her lilies and blowing kisses to him. I walked (drove) away that day with so much more than , a van full of lillies that are just coming up and a lily society membership. I have memories of a wonderful sunny day filled with laughter, and light and fragrance in the company of one of the kindest humans I have ever known.

By the way he checked up on me several times to see how the lilies were getting along.

I was devistated to hear he had died. I was so looking forward to seeing him again this year. Please excuse any typos, I still tearup whan I think of him.

Yehudith

Yehudith,

What a lovely story, and thank you for sharing it. I never met him but his wonderful book was one of the first I acquired, and I learned so much from him. His writing stirred my interest in Trumpet lilies. Up to then I had thought I was only interested in orientals. I pulled down his book from my shelf to find the a piece of paper inserted inthe page - Table 2-1, Hybrid lilies recommended for the garden and finding that I have grown 9 of them.

The Wiconsin society put together a nice tribute to him that a received a few weeks ago.

Donna

Donna
g
This is so embarrasing. For months now I've had him mixed up with someone else. I can't believe it. I can only put it down to my very very bad hearing when he introduced himself to me. I can't believe I called him Ed all that time and he answered me. Guess his hearing's as bad as mine. The person I thought was Ed was Fred the past president of MARLS. Oh how embarrasing!

Oh Sweetie, you're adorable. Please don't be embarrassed.

Donna

That's okay but now I want to meet Fred!

LOL!

Donna

Oh, still such a sweet story, yehudith. And such a good thing to find the kind man you met is (probably) still alive, LOL!

Yehudith, I'm so glad I'm not the only one that does stuff like that. :) ] I'm glad to know I'm in good company! :)

Got my four SILK ROAD bulbs from WFF today. I am not happy. Really small bulbs. One is totally rotted. Another is so dried out it looks dead. The other two look plantable but not fresh. Considering what they cost, they should be ashamed of themselves. I have bought from VB wholsale for two years and never gotten anything this small or a rotted bulb.

If you can take pictures of the bulbs asap and send them to WFF. Ask for a refund on the bad ones.

I think WFF gets some of its lily bulbs, including SR, from Lily Garden. I know the Pac NW harvest was not good last year due to weather. I have found LG's bulbs to always be rather small compared to competitors like BuggyCrazy and B&D . Doesn't excuse the rotted bulbs but it is interesting your experience with Van Bourgondien was good because I have always found their bulbs to be small and dried up. I usedto buy their crocuses but after a couple of disappointing tulip orders I do not use them anymore.

WFF used to have exceptional bulbs. How disappointing for you. When I had a problem last year I telephoned them, and was issued a check. And that was for first class merchandise that was the wrong color, so I planted it successfully. It would probably be better to get your money back than ask for a merchandise credit. Please call their toll free number, let them know of your unhappiness, and ask for a check.

Donna

I have bought from White Flower Farm before. Not the best prices but the plants and bulbs I had gotten in the past were always great quality. I will be calling customer service on Monday. Truely, I was extremely surprised at the really bad bulbs. I would not hesitate to order plants from them but as of now, I would be afraid to order bulbs again.

Hey, Steve, feel free to sneak a couple of those Silk Road lilies into your luggage when you come up for the Iowa RU. I'm sure I could find a good home for the poor little (?) guys! They are just stunning. I remember a picture you posted last year somewhere, and I couldn't get over how tall they were!

I just faxed over an order (my second of this spring) to The Lily Garden for 4 Silk Road bulbs. I am determinted to have this lily growing in my garden this spring!

Good for you!!

I still wouldn't let WFF off the hook..

Doesn't mean that WWF is off the hook. Just means that I would not even trust them to send replacements at this point. I really want this lily and if they send me bad bulbs again, I will be nowhere. Better to get them at The LIly Garden, which is were I would have gotten them in the first place if I had only known. Oh well.

HI Bookerc, I am driving up to the RU this year so I will have lots of room to bring plants. Lemme see what I can do for you :-) On the tall Silk Roads, I have a pic (below) that shows two stems at 7'+ and of course when I sold in 2006 and we bought our new place, I was snmart enugh to dig them up and take them with me. I got these through Wayside, believe it or not - though as with WFF, I am certain they bought them from LG themselves as they referenced Judith Freeman in their description.

Rita, that is too bad about WFF. I have always received top-quality bulbs from them even if they're a little steep on prices. Hopefully they'll do the right thing. They accidentally shipped me duplicate orders a few years ago and I emailed them to tell them I wanted to keep the second and pay for it (these were rose bushes) and they told me to keep it with their compliments - I was impressed. Haven't had to deal with their customer service since; hopefully as Donna indicates it is still good.

The picture below as I stated was from 2006; these plants still grew to about 6' in 2007 & 2008 since transplanting, and are up about 3 ft. so far this year, so we'll see how they do. I just love them.

Steve- Can't wait to see flowers in person in my garden. I can just imagine how good they will look. Love your picture.

I have had problems with WFF bulbs being the wrong variety before, but they have always, always made it right. Can't complain here.

Thanks Rita! Good luck :-) The bulbs you will likely get even from LG will be modest in size but below is what they turned into after three years (the stems you see above were in the ground three years; they were maybe 3' or 4' tall first year). I dug the bulbs in Oct right before we moved and you can see them relative to a cell phone.