Lilium species

[ChrisB]

Thanks Ian.  Grown from seed and the packet did say L. m. hybrid.... I've never flowered a lily grown from seed before, its such a thrill....

[ronm]

A beautiful plant to start with Chris, . Congratulations on your first,

[Liz Mills]

Well done, Chris - hope this will inspire you to grow lots more lilies from seed - then you don't need to worry about lily beetle.  Club Seed Exchange is a great source for good seed especially of the species.

[gote]

Gote - if my L. formosanum flowers again this year (it has done for the past 6-8 yrs) I could save you some seed if you like.  Its a very strong plant and has a good sized flower.  I got my L. mackliniae seed from the exchange in 2008.  The others in the pot have yet to flower, perhaps next year, then I'll know if they are uniform...

Thank you very much Chris.
To my plesant surprise it did come up. Very late. No flower bud but healthy looking. Never the less, I would appreciate some seeds. Presently I have only one egg in the basket  and a strong grower is always welcome.
Göte Svanholm
Oskarsparken 6
70212 Örebro
Sweden.

[ChrisB]

After I'd written that, went to see what it is doing this year.  Its come up, like yours, but no sign of flower bud yet, and there should be.   I'll keep a watch on it for  you.

[vanozzi]

Hello, I was fortunate this year to obtain seed of Lilium majoense and Lilium poilanei. Does anyone know the optimum temperature for germination for these rare species?Also any guide lines for successful growth to flowering would be appreciated.
Seed was planted on 13/7/12 in an unheated shed, with minimum winter temperatures down to +2c. We are into spring with day temp from +11c to +20c.
Regards
Paul R

[Tony Willis]

I have not been fortunate enough to obtain Lilium majoense yet but last year obtained two clones of L. poilanei which produced seed  so I will deal with that from my experience.

The seed ripened last year about late September .

In March this year I sowed the seeds individually on a layer of sand over the compost of John Innes with extra grit in an upright position about two cms down the pot,  covered them with compost and topped with grit.I kept them in a frost free frame ( 5c min). They germinated in late June and have much to my surprise not only produced their seed leaf but each has now gone on to make a further leaf (picture below)

I am going to pot the whole lot on in the next few days and try and keep them growing as long as possible in a frost free environment.

Both the parent bulbs have flowered again this year but much later and I now have four pods on one of them which will not ripen for another two/three months which is going to prove difficult  as we are now entering winter.

I have found that they also propagate easily from scales.

Ignore the marks on the leaves as this is Provado residue.

[vanozzi]

Thanks Tony for your experience.The pot of your L poilanei sure looks promising . I decided I would move my yet to germinate pots to the regular warmth of an orchid house, put them in a plastic bag and place on the floor.All my other asiatic lilium seed has germinated, but not these 2 rare species.
 Hope you manage to harvest those yet to ripen poilanei pods. Maybe once you have several clones established, you can grow some stock for breeding in decent size pots and bring them under shelter for pod ripening in the future.
All my seed, btw, is planted in a sterilized layer of soil and at about the same depth at yours.Some of my seed I presoak for a few days, then plant, but not these two lots.Now I wish I had done half and half!
Regards
Paul R

[Tasmanian Taffy]

Hi Paul,
I have some Lilium Poilanei which I sowed about a fortnight ago I was kindly given the seed by Tony in the U.K.From what I have been able to find out about this particular species is that the seed is immediate epigeal germination which needs to be sown in the early spring as I live in Tasmania and our climate is very much the same as yours.I sow all my Lilium seed in my own seed raising mix in 135mm square pots.I sow each seed ( about nine or twelve to a pot) using a pair of tweezers gently placing them vertically in the mix and covering them with a fine layer of mix then a thin layer of fine gravel,I then give them a good water and place the pots in my shade house and leave them there until they are big enough to transplant out.I find I have a better success rate than using the plastic bag and vermiculite method.I tried to get some Poilanei bulbs sent from China but Quarantine regulations won't allow it.I am waiting now to see if my Poilanei seed germinate.I would like to know how your Majoense seed goes as I have been trying four about five years to get some seed of this species.Best regards John Bartush.

[Tasmanian Taffy]

Hello Tony,
Your Poilanei seedlings are looking very healthy,I sowed the seeds that you kindly sent me about two weeks ago at the start of our Spring here.Keeping my fingers crossed that they germinate and grow as well as yours,will keep you posted.Best regards John.

[vanozzi]

G'day John.
I haven't had any problems with germinating any other seed, except in the early days with the first ryirubes and some other primary OT crosses.Old seed, or seed incorrectly stored, will also cut down germination rates.My majoensis and poilanei seed was relatively fresh.I would not recommend using the baggy method for immediate epigeal germinating seed.

I lived in Tasmania for 10 years, leaving about 4 years ago. My setup there was pretty good, large double-span igloo and plenty of good water from a creek fed dam.There was no problem with soil mixes there, as I used to buy a trailer load of sterilized mix from the local professional flower grower. So easy.When I moved, I lost quite a few choice species and clones and I have had another move, 18 months ago, back to a country property, close to the ocean, with a small acreage that I can handle.I'm building up my martagon collection again,including species of course and have perhaps 1000 + seedlings coming along.Orientals, in all forms, along with OT's, Trumpets and both asiatic species and hybrids interest me.Last year I sent some good Japonicum seed to the SRGC, The pod parent was Marcus' original pink clone and the pollen was from a white clone that  a chap (dec) from Victoria sent to me in Tassie.I brought that pollen with me.Since then, I obtained another 2 japonicum clones from Marcus, one is paler pink, almost white.Last year I flowered some nice  Le Reve pollinated with both white and pink japonicum and will have further seedlings from that cross blooming this year.I still have trouble with duchartrei and can't set seed on my wardii. Lankonguense is easy and quite beautiful.

I was thrilled to get these two rare species seed this year and wish you all the luck with your poilanei seed, John. Are you north or south in Tasmania?
Just as a side note, I also breed tuberous begonias, carnations (English borders) and pinks (hybrids) and perhaps fuchsia hybrids and species, not to mention daffodils.

Regards
Paul R

[rob krejzl]

can't set seed on my wardii

Paul,

Marcus seems to sell a single clone which doesn't (of course) self-fertilise, but I've only had moderate success with pollen from another clone sent me by Adrian Van Kamp. It left me wondering whether there was any in-breeding depression.

[vanozzi]

Hi Rob
not sure about any in-breeding depression.I presume your new clone from Adrian van Kampen was from a recent import from The Netherlands? Perhaps if you have had it only a season, the stars weren't aligned that time.My clones were from Rod and Marcus and may very well have been one and the same.Last year I bought another clone of wardii from Brian Tonkin Bulbs and was pretty sure Shirley confirmed it was seed raised, but alas, I still failed to get a seed set, but am hopeful.I may also have used another clone from Brian Tonkin when I was in Tassie?

Today I checked the last seven years NALS seed list. Only two donors sent wardii seed in that period and both are from Tasmania, RB in 2008 and NJ in 2011 and 2012. So I rang NJ and he confirmed that his wardii parents were seed raised by him and that he ensures he selects  seedlings for breeding that show some variation.I think he is putting together an article on wardii for the RHS journal. He pollinates his wardii in the open.

I obtained wardii seed from NALS, but with the recent huge move to this property, the seedlings were lost.

[Lesley Cox]

I had seed this year on what I have grown for some years as wardii and I promised this to Rob but then mislaid it. I have a nasty feeling I may have sown it as a Fritillaria species with a ? on the label.

Mine was seed from a NZ gardener from Central Otago and has flowered well most years but set seed only a couple of times. It urgently needs unpotting and planting in a the garden. It should be able to get this fairly soon as we move from this garden to a quite different one.

The picture below is what I have as wardii and I wonder if, in fact it is that or one of the other pinks. Some opinions please? Sorry that it's rather furry, not a good picture and I have none of the stem or foliage.

[pontus]

Hello Leslie,

what you have is in fact lilium lankongense, from China(and in fact an excellent colour form of it) , and not lilium wardii. Wardii is light-dark pink on the whole flower, with brown spots. i will find an old wardi picture to show you if you want. I find wardii very difficult to grow, while lankongense is easier...

Pontus