Isabella Preston's accomplishments began in 1912 when she arrived from England at the age of 31 to attend the Ontario agricultural College in Guelph. There, she worked under the direction of Professor J.W. Crow to develop various fruit, vegetable and flowering plants, including garden lilies, most notably the Lilium princeps var. George C.Creelman. In 1920 she moved to the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa where Dominion Horticulturist Dr. W.T. Mcoun encouraged her to begin developing certain genera of ornamental plants, particularly those that didn't attract the attention of breeders but could have impressive results. For 27 years she devoted her efforts to improving the genera Malus (crabapple), Syringa (lilac), Lilium (lily), Rosa and Iris siberica.

Preston's favourite flower was the lily, and of the 22 vigorous, tall stem varieties she introduced, 11 received awards of merit and breeders world- wide used them to develop excellent varieties. The most highly acclaimed was the golden Coronation lily, the first pure yellow lily, bred in 1935 by a second crossing of two orange varieties, Willmottiae and Dauricum . "Coronation has clear yellow flowers faintly spotted with brown", she wrote in a department bulletin. "There are few lilies of this colour that are hardy and easy to grow".

Many of her varieties received honour from horticultural groups around the world, including the Royal Horticultural Society in England and the New York Horticultural Society , and in 1937 she received the Carter Medal of the Ontario Horticultural Association for horticultural achievement. Her first book, Garden Lilies, was published in 1927, and in 1947 Lilies for Every Garden was completed.

Lecturer, author, breeder and an active member of numerous international horticultural societies, Isabella Preston was a pioneer in the truest sense of the word. She died on December 31, 1965. In the South Saskatchewan Lily Society's Historical Garden you can find seven of Miss Preston's hybrids which include: Brenda Watts, Coronation, Lillian Cummings, Sovereign, Grace Marshall, Lyla McCann and Muriel Condie.

This information was taken from an article written by Linda Hink, B.Sc. Ag., for the TLC- for plants Winter- 1990/ 1991. Jean Ericksen gave this article to her niece, Elaine Fellner, who shared it with us.

Prairie Lily Breeders: Bruno Bear Hugs Lilies Herbert Sunley, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan NALS Yearbook 1994 Early in April of 1969, I decided to go visit Percy Wright. I wanted one or two roses for the south side of my backyard. I was pleased that Percy had little trouble digging up 'Blanche de Coubert' and 'Ruth', the two roses I purchased. These were bagged and we sat down on Percy's back stoop to enjoy the sun and talk about lilies. We were comparing notes about the lack of success in making certain crosses the summer before when Percy asked me if I would like some lily seed. "I wouldn't mind having some, if you have plenty to spare", I said, thinking about the lack of seed that we had just been talking about. Oh, he said, "I must tell you that it is old seed, some of which I harvested in 1961. It is sitting on the windowsill of the bedroom right above our heads. Do you still want it?"

I said that I would give it a try even if it was old and Percy returned with several packets of his own seed. Most details were clear, but one packet had faded, illegible writing. I dubbed that package, 'UNYI', dutifully planted those seeds and was rewarded with two UNYI lilies. One eventually became 'Bold Knight'. It was registered in 1971. In 1969, I harvested 269 bulbs and bulblets of 'Bold Knight' and it was thereafter offered for sale by Art Delahey of Riverside Gardens. It became fairly popular and I tried to breed with it. It didn't seem to set seed. At our 1984 NALS show, which our Regional CPLS hosted in Saskatoon, David Schultz told me that "Bold Knight" was a tetraploid. Was I shocked, as I had been trying unsuccessfully to induce a tetraploid with colchicine. Here all the while, I had a natural one under my nose!

Now as requested by your editor, I will tell you how lilies came into my life. About 1960 or 1961, I found bulbs of L. henryi and L. auratum at Early's Seed and Feed on Avenue A (now, Idylwyld Drive) in among the spring bulbs. I was hoping to find lily seed. I did not know about the North American Lily Society at that time. I remember having heard and read about L. regale; and it was the only trumpet lily I even had skimpy knowledge about. I had hoped to find a bulb of L. elegans or L. hollandicum (whose names I did not know) but which I had seen in many city gardens. I had to settle for L. henryi and L. auratum. These two bulbs were expensive to me then and cost all of $1.50 each and had been shipped from Holland. They probably looked good to me at the time, but now I would certainly consider them to be in bad shape.

Into the ground they went, by the rose bushes in the front yard. They both struggled up in their weakened condition and bloomed and Bruno the Bear was very pleased. He promptly decided to cross the two sets of blooms. I do not have to tell you the results. They were crossed in late August when it was cool. The plants were weak. I couldn't have picked a pair of more unlikely lilies to try crossing.

A disappointed Bear looked at the shriveled pods and said, "Bruno, what did you do wrong?"

Next spring, the L. henryi came up strong and the weakened L. auratum came up late in 1961, but not at all in 1962. The irony of the whole situation was the fact that the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, which I had attended in the late 1940's had the world recognized hybridizer, Dr. Cecil E Patterson, on its faculty, in the Horticulture Department. Moreover, by 1962, I still had not heard of him. Fortunately, my next door neighbor was more fully informed than I. His name was Jim Hovell, a stationary engineer at the U of S Power House. In about July of 1963, he proudly pointed to his "Apricot Glow" and asked me what I thought about it. I was fascinated by that gorgeous lily and pumped him daily for information and also about where I could get a bulb. Jim told me all about Dr. Patterson and his acres of lilies. In my mind, I still did not visualize that Dr. Patterson had acres of different colors and types of lilies. I only expected a few different orange ones in large clumps.

It wasn't until 1964, that I learned that the U. of S. was selling about 20 different lily cultivars. That very fall, I met Laura Patterson, the widow of Dr. Cecil Patterson. She kindly acquainted me with the many hundreds of different seedlings her husband had bred in his home garden in the evenings. Laura gave me good advice on the breeding of lilies, and supplied me with breeding stock at extremely reasonable prices, until she sold her home to the Oblate Fathers. Then, Friar M. Doll became a good friend and we spent many hours together over lilies. Also in the autumn of 1964, Dr. S. Nelson, who was head of the U of S. Horticulture Department advised me that Bert Porter of Parkside, Saskatchewan and Dr. Frank Skinner of Dropmore, Manitoba, were two nurserymen growing lilies for sale. I wrote for a catalogue from each of them in the fall of 1964. 1 never looked back after that, so that by 1966, I had over 200 cultivars and several hundred of my own seedlings under trial. I also had about 50 different lilies from John Barber of Elfros, Saskatchewan.

By 1967 and most years afterward, Bruno could be found in the lily patch, early in the morning, during noon hour, and in the evening up to dark from July to November. Of course being a Bear, I hibernated during the winter and dreamed of the summer and lilies.

Jan de Graaff (1903 - 1989) Jan de Graaff was born in Leiden, Netherlands, and studied horticulture in England. He was in the diplomatic services before joining his family's business. In 1928 he came to the United States on behalf of his firm, eventually purchasing Oregon Bulb, Farms in 1934. The company first produced the traditional Dutch bulbs, starting with 48 hectares (120acres) of daffodils and 12 hectares (30 acres) of Dutch iris. DeGraaff and his staff were active in breeding varieties of both. By the late 1950's, the firm had come to devote its entire acreage, to the cultivation of lilies. A man of many talents, De Graaff was an excellent promoter, manager and salesman, who knew exactly how a successful company should be run. He was also a fine, prolific writer who believed that knowledge should be shared. He wrote, "I see no danger in making the knowledge we have acquired available to other growers, amateur or professional. The more competition, the better for all of us, for inevitably, new sources of supply will open up new markets".

The lily varieties hybridized at Oregon Bulb farms are legion. Perhaps the best known from De Graaffs era are the Mid-Century hybrids and several strains of trumpet and Oriental lilies, De Graaff published several books, including The Complete Book of Lilies (1961), as well as excellent articles for the general public in Life magazine, the Saturday Evening Post and the Reader's Digest. He received many awards, including the Veitch Memorial Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society in 1967, and the E.H. Wilson Award from the North American lily Society in 1966. A series of tributes to him appeared in the 1989 Yearbook o the North American Lily Society.

All who love, enjoy and appreciate lilies owe Jan de Graaff an enormous debt. He was the one who advanced and stimulated the interests of others and, with their help, made the beauty of the lily universally accessible. May we all be blessed with such a legacy! The creations he inspired made many lives richer and brought a unique beauty to a world too often engulfed by the opposite. For this we offer our heartfelt gratitude.

Edward McRae wrote the above information in his book Lilies. Edward McRae was invited to join the Oregon Bulb Farms as a lily hybridizer in 1957 by Jan de Graaff.

Jan De Graaff was the editor and wrote for the North American Yearbook for a number of years. If you are interested in reading some of-these most interesting articles they are available in the Linda Smallwood Memorial Lily Library.

Those who visited the Historical Garden the last two weeks have been impressed with a tall group of golden lilies on red-brown stems and many on the tour asked its name -Citronella. Also in the De Graaff s bed you can find "

Palomino", "Golden Wonder", "Discovery", "Destiny" and "Sutter's Gold".

"Starburst Sensation" Lily (This paper was prepared by Lynn M.Collicutt and Wilbert G. Ronald , Agriculture Canada, Research Station, Morden, MB and was provided to SSLS Library by Jean Ericksen) This paper is not dated but does give some indication of length of time covered in the establishment of "Starburst Sensation" garden lily. This group of lilies are now called Orientpets and are classified as Interdivisional , Division VIII and are valued for their hardiness and beauty. They were show winners at the Shows in New Zealand. This paper also gives an excellent model of the information required to register a new lily clone. Lilies (Lilium L.Liliaceae) are popular garden herbaceous perennial throughout temperate and sub-tropical regions of the world. The species of the genus Lilium are classified botanically into 7 sections (Comber, 1949), while the various types of cultivated lilies are divided into 9 horticultural divisions (Anonymous, 1964). Cultivars of Aurelian and Oriental horticultural divisions constitute a large portion of cultivated lilies. Aurelian hybrids are considered quite reliable garden plants in northern gardens, but most Oriental lilies are late flowering and fail to mature in northern zones.

The objective of the lily breeding program at the Morden Research Station (MRS) is to incorporate the disease resistance, hardiness, early flowering and the yellow-orange flower color of the Aurelian division with the large flower size and red-purple flower colour of the Oriental division. There are few existing hybrids between these two sections due to intersectional breeding incompatibilities. Origin and Description "Starburst Sensation" originated from a cross made in 1975 between an Aurelian trumpet lily hybrid L.X` Damson L.leucanthum (Bak.)(section, Leucolirion) (Comber,1949) and an oriental cultivar L.speciosum Thunb. X "Tornada" (section 4, Archelirion) (Comb, 1949). The original plant was obtained by embryo rescue. "Starburst Sensation" was released in 1985 (Selection No. RSM 75-9-8) as breeding germplasm (Ronald and Collicutt, 1985). Since then it has performed well outdoors and a decision was made to formally name the clone as a unique and well adaptive cultivar.

Plants average 76+8cm in height when grown at MRS. Stems are yellow green( RHS 144A) (Royal Horticultural Society, 1985) with a grey purple (RHS 187) overlay colour. Leaves are 10.8+2.7 cm. long for 2-3 weeks in late July to early August in Manitoba. Mean petal length is 10.8 = 0.7 cm and mean width is 5.0+0.5cm. Mean sepal length is 11.3=0.5cm and mean width is 2.7+0.4 cm. Both sepal and petals are slightly reflexed and sepals may have a slight twist. Flowers are outfacing with a red-purple mid- throat (RHS 60C, 58A fades to 71B,C), white outer perianth margin (RHS 155D) and yellow green throat (nectary) (RHS 145B). A few papillae are located in the inner third of the flower and are red-purple (RHS colour as listed for mid-throat). Stigmas are purple (RHS 79D) and pollen is grey-orange (RHS 169C, 175A, 166A). Flowers are very fragrant and plants are resistant to Botrytis.

The combination of aurelian lilies with Oriental offers value in extending the geographic range of Oriental lilies. This lily has thrived for several years in garden conditions throughout Canadian Plant Hardiness Zone 3 (Ouellet and Sherk,1967). "Starburst Sensation" can be propagated by standard methods of division and bulb scaling. Plants have also been generated by tissue culture propagation using Lily Multiplication Media( Carolina Biological Supply Company, 2700 York Rd, Burlington,NC 27215). Small bulblets up to 11cm developed in 4-8 weeks in tissue culture. Flowering size bulbs can be produced from scales or small bulblets in 1-2 years dependant on growing conditions.

Availability

"Starburst Sensation" is registered with the International Register (Royal Horticultural Society) and the Canadian Ornamental plant foundation( 652 Aberdeen Avenue, North Bay, Ontario, P1B 7H9, Canada) Agriculture Canada reserves the right to collect royalties from this cultivar.

The Historical Garden has plantings of "Starburst Sensation", "Northern Sensation", "Northern Beauty" and the aurelian - asiatic "Silky Bells".

Jean Ericksen (1908-2003) Jean Ericksen is the South Saskatchewan Lily Society's honorary president of our society as well as a "founding member". She received the Herb Sunley Award for her life time efforts in the promotion of the genus Lilium. I received a letter from this "Queen of the Lilies" this last month as interested as ever in promoting and educating our society. Jean Ericksen lives on the family farm near Redvers, Saskatchewan. Jean started an interest in gardening as a child. Her grandfather gave her seeds to plant, some of which were bachelor buttons, scented stocks, marigolds and poppies. That is when her interest in the garden began. In 1947 she started breeding Lilies. In 1956 she started registering them. Today she has over forty registered varieties she has hybridized. Jean has distributed many bundles of seed to the North American Lily Society (NALS) seed exchange as well as to many lily friends around the world. Mrs. Ericksen has corresponded with many of the early hybridizers. People like Isabella Preston, Dr. Skinner, Dr. Porter and Winkey Woodriff who were also very close friends. Martagons were a lily that Jean had a special interest in. In 1980 Dr. Don Egolf wrote Jean to convey to her that her martagon seed was superior. Today she is still busy corresponding with lily people all over the world.

Mrs. Ericksen is a Honorary Lifetime Member of the Saskatchewan Horticultural Association. In 1990 she was presented the D.R. Robinson Award for her "outstanding achievement" in plant breeding. She is an Honorary Lifetime Member of NALS and received the New Zealand Medal of Honor in 1992. Her greatest honor was when in 1994 she received an Honorary lifetime membership in the Royal Horticultural Society. It is a privilege that has thus far been given to seven people in the world.

The above article was written by Elaine Fellner, Mrs. Ericksen's niece. Elaine has a file of letters written to Mrs. Ericksen by various breeders over the years which discusses their various breeding projects which is most interesting. Mrs. Ericksen did, at sometime have a nursery business with a printed catalog that states not only what she had for sale but the blood lines of her hybrids. Mrs. Ericksen has given permission to publish this historical document which you will find on the last pages of this newsletter.

In the historical garden we have a few of Mrs. Ericksen's treasures : "Quadroon", "Lillass", "Chilcoot" and "Salutation" (VI).

Jean Cynthia Craig was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta in 1908, weighing only 2 pounds at birth. Jean was a delicate baby and throughout her childhood. As a baby Jean lived in Wauchope with her grandparents and later with her aunt Elizabeth Pittman while her parents were off to conquer the west. Her parent divorced in 1910, and her mother then married Fred Kestler. They had 2 girls and 2 boys in Silverton, B. C. Jean's mom died of the world flu in1919 and dad Kestler died at Castlegar, B. C. at 97 years of age.

Jean took her schooling at the Wauchope Convent and stayed with her aunt Mrs. Kay Holstein and thus grew up something like topsy, being useful in several levels of farm and housework. She was never bored or without work.

Jean married John Ericksen of Wauchope in 1933 and from this union two sons were born Egon in October 1935, Marius in October 1950. They moved to their present farm in 1943, the former David Lutz homestead. During the time they farmed, they had a well known dairy herd of registered Holsteins. John died in 1988 and Jean remained on the farm until two years ago, at which time she moved into the Moose Mountain Lodge at Carlyle until her death. Jean enjoyed gardening and will also be remembered for her love of lilies.

Jean Ericksen 1908-2003 - Respectfully submitted, Dolores Nelson -

Jean Ericksen, our respected and revered SSLS Honorary President, put her pen down September 25th, 2003. She was known all over the world for extensive mail correspondence. She was interested in "good garden lilies" and by her knowledge, enthusiasm and generosity she shared this passion with anyone who showed an interest. She wanted everyone to experience the thrill of creating beautiful new lily cultivars.

In May, 2002, Agnes Beingessner and I had the pleasure of sharing an afternoon with Mrs. Ericksen. It was a most interesting visit as these women of strong faith discussed their life paths and their love of all growing things.

I learned that Mrs. Ericksen was not only a world famous lily hybridizer but she had improved the world of dairy cattle, lilacs, rhubarb, iris and various garden fruits.

In just one afternoon she shared a few of her methods for propagating lilies. She suggested that milk cartons could prove useful as pots for lily seedlings. The bottom of the carton would need holes for drainage and a window cut well up on the side for watering and air- flow. The bottom should be covered with gravel for drainage. Sterilized soil (heat to 200 F for one half hour) and fill ¾ of the container, plant the seed and close the top. When the seedling is ready to be planted out just cut the bottom off and set the container in a hole in the garden without disturbing the roots will offer better success in transplanting.

Another idea for obtaining scales from that precious bulb that is growing well in the garden is to start digging at least 30cm away from the stem. First you are to dig straight down to below the depth of the bulb. Then dig carefully towards the bulb until you are able to remove one or two scales. Disinfect the site and carefully replace the soil. This method prevents the destruction of less of the root system and assures that your bulb will remain healthy while you go about increasing its numbers.

Mrs Ericksen also had some suggestions for the production of lavender colored lilies. This summer when they bloom for the first time I'll remember their genetic engineer.

Mrs Ericksen was generous in sharing her plant materials and encouraging other growers to do the same. She was a clearing-house for seed and catalogues these last few years. She was delighted that she had introduced two of her nurses to the growing of lilies.

Over the years Mrs. Ericksen encouraged membership in both SSLS and NALS. She often introduced new members with gift memberships getting them to know that the publications were just too good to be missed. Her many visitors both near and from lands afar attested to the respect with which she was held and with which she held others.

We express our sincere sympathy to her sons Egon and Marius and their families.

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go; some stay for a while and leave footprints on
our hearts, and we are never ever the same."

Dr. Albert (Bert) Porter (1901 - 2000) Dr. Porter was born in 1901 in the town of Guildford, Surrey, England. In 1907 he traveled with mother and three siblings to his father's homestead at Parkside, Saskatchewan. He grew up in Parkside, where his father farmed a mixed quarter section. He attended high school in Moose Jaw and went on to attend Normal school in Saskatoon in 1919, the first year it was open. He went on to teach in many one-room schools at such places as Leney, St. Walberg and south of Marsden. During the depression it was difficult to obtain teaching positions so he returned to Parkside. To add to his income, he sold nursery stock for Prairie Nurseries of Estevan. With a strong interest in plants, he felt that this venture might widen his experience while providing a few extra dollars. Bert canvassed area residents, taking orders. The stock arrived from Estevan by train in the early spring of 1934. As he made his delivery rounds, it became apparent that many rural people simply hadn't any cash and were obliged to cancel or take only partial orders.

The weather was warming very quickly, and returning stock to Estevan was out of the question. Left with no alternative, he absorbed his losses and planted the leftover stock on the quarter of land where he and his wife Winnie lived. He hoped to sell this stock the following spring. But working with these plants changed the course of his life.

Honeywood nursery was born in the midst of the Great Depression.

Bert was soon propagating hardy stock, which settled into area yards and gardens. He grew raspberries and strawberries as market crops, employing neighborhood youth as berry pickers. In 1939 Honeywood Fruit Farm and Nursery issued its first price list? The war years increased demand for nursery stock.

Bert loved lilies from an early age and bred hardy plants for Canadian Prairie Provinces. He worked closely with other hybridizers, including Frank Skinner and Percy Wright.

He introduced a host of strong dependable lilies. "Red Carpet" was the first outstanding lily of miniature habit and has been used extensively in breeding lilies for pots and border planting. In the SSLS Historical Garden you can find a large bed of Dr. Porter's beauties -"Scarlett", "Jolly Miller", "White Picture", "Earlybird", "Pink Champage", "Flaming Giant", "Firebright", "Cheerful Charlie", "Sunbright", "Rosabell" and "Happy Thoughts".

In 1977 the North American Lily Society presented the E.H. Wilson Award to Dr.Porter.

Today Honeywood Lilies and Bulb Farm is no more - Dr. Porter, has been a resident of Whispering Pine Nursing Home at Canwood, Saskatchewan for a number of years. He is 98 years old. His wife Winnie is a resident of a nursing home at Shellbrook, Saskatchewan.

Honeywood Lily Farm was purchased by a group of interested former Parkside people - who among them is Delbert Dynna, a lawyer from Prince Albert. This group is planning to restore Honeywood Lily Farm and develop it into a "Bert Porter Historic Park."

Bert Porter will always live in the minds and hearts of Parkside and district folks.

The information for this article was gathered from "The Saskatchewan Gardener", Winter 1997 written by A.Daku, Lilies by E. McRae and a letter sent from Carol Woolsey's sister who lives at Leask Sk.

Today Honeywood Lilies and Bulb Farm is the Honeywood Heritage Nursery.

In the fall of 1999, a group of long term community patrons purchased the nursery to save dr. Poerter's legacy and to rebuild the nursery as a continuing heritage operation.

Ernest Henry Wilson - (1876 - 1930) The third bed in our Historical Garden contains new lilies or rather those more recently introduced hybrids usually from asiatic parents. This is the bed that draws the attention in July with their full range of glorious colour. They are easy to grow, requiring little care and multiply quickly. It is to the army of adventurers, that traveled to then distant ports to seek out the parents of these beautiful seedlings, that we owe a debt of thanks. One of the greatest and earliest was Ernest Henry Wilson.

Wilson made six expeditions to the far east . He sailed for the Americas in 1899 at age 24, to meet Charles Sargeant ( L. sargeantis was named in honour of his wife) where he received instruction in collecting, packaging and shipping plants. He reached Hong Kong on June 6, and headed to Szemao in Yunnan , China to visit James Henry, stationed deep in the Chinese interior. He set off with an English speaking servant. They planned to go nearly a thousand miles through French Tonkin, hazardous due to bubonic plaque epidemic there. But no Chinese could enter tonkin, so he lost his interpreter. At Hanoi he was helped by an English speaking Frenchman. They proceeded to Laokai where they learned that foreigners had been attacked in protest against a railway that the French hoped to put through. The French consulate and customs house had been burnt down by rebels. The French Commandant warned him to go no further as they had recently received word that four men had recently been murdered in the place he intended to reach. He reached Manao to be met by the sight of the decapitated heads of the murdered men. On reaching Dr. Henry it was found that his visit was to be short as Dr.Henry was to replace the American Commissioner of customs in Mengtse. They started off for Hong Kong and Dr.Henry sketched a map showing where he had once seem a Davidia Tree. Wilson went up the Yangtse, at Patung he was given an escort of six soldiers. Further along he met the lone survivor of the rioting between christians and non-christians during which one of two Belgium priests was murdered.

Wilson found the place described by Dr.Henry and the house where he had stayed. The people also remembered the Davidia tree, but it had been cut down to become part of the house!

Wilson decided to go by mule train 1000 miles to western regions where Pere David had discovered the first Davidia tree in 1869. In just five days he came across a whole grove of the Davidia trees he had been sent to collect. Months later he got ample seed.

Wilson returned home after three successful years during which he collected, among other plants, Acer Griseum and Clematis Armandii, L. leucanthum and L.sulphureum (both, now lost). He returned home in April 1902 and married Helen Ganderton.

After only six months Veitch sent him out again. In this short time the Boxer rebellion had become more violent. For this trip disaster plagued him, first the weather was terrible, and there was a war, and at the end he nearly starved. There were no pack mules available and no ponies to ride. One?s own legs or a sedan chair, a vital necessity since without this mark of caste he would receive little help, were the only means of travel.

In 1903 he discovered L.regale which he wrote - "This lily has a remarkable limited distribution, being confined to 50 miles of the narrow semi-arid valley of the Min River in extreme western Schechuan between 2500 feet and 2600 feet altitude, a region where summers are hot and winters are severely cold and where strong winds prevail at all seasons of the year. I never saw it outside this valley which is walled in by steep slopes culminating in perpetual snow. There it grows in great abundance among grasses and low shrubs and niches on the bare cliffs. From the last week of May to the first week in July, according to altitude, the blossom of this lily transforms a desolate lonely region into a veritable garden of beauty. Its fragrance fills the air and 'tis good to travel there when the Regal lily bloom, though the road be hard and dangerous as personal experience and Chinese characters carved in the rocks urging all not to loiter save beneath the shelter of cliffs testify".

He sent 300 bulbs of L.regale to Veitch. Wilson returned to China ( December 1906 - 1909) under the auspices of Professor C.S. Sargent of the Arnold Arboretum. He again collected in Hupeh and Shechuan. This trip he collected Magnolia Wilsonii, Rhodendrons , Notholirion Hyacinthinum and the lily named Miss Willmott.

His fourth trip ( April 1910 - March 1911) was again on behalf of the arboretum with some financial backing from some British subscribers. His main object was the searching and collecting of conifer seeds. He also gathered large quantity of L. regale bulbs which descendants are seen in gardens today. This journey was nearly fatal as his leg was broken in two places as the result of falling rocks. The wound became gangrenous but he refused to have it amputated and survived with one leg shorter than the other giving him what he called his "lily limp".

After three years in Boston (1911-1914) which were spent naming his plants in co-operation with Dr. Rehder and in bringing out his Plantae Wilsonianae. His fifth trip was to Japan to study cherries (1914). The next two years he returned to the Arnold Arboretum to publish his Plantae Wilsonianae. His sixth trip ( January 1917 - March 1919) consisted of two trips to Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. In Korea he did much to clarify the classification of the native lilies, named L.hansonii, L.medeoloides, L. tsinglauense and L. distichum. He sent back seeds of L.amabile and L. distichum. From Taiwan he introduced Pieris Taiwanensis and L. formosanum.

His seventh and last journey was a world tour ( July 1920 - August, 1922). He visited Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, India and South and North America. His impressions of that tour is published in his book "Plant Hunting".

Wilson was appointed Assistant Director of the Arnold Arboretum in 1919, and then appointed keeper on the death of Sargent in April, 1927. It was an unfortunately brief term as he and his wife were both killed in October, 1930 near Worcester Massachusetts, when his car skidded on a wet road covered with leaves and fell over an embankment. Dr.Rehder said that in China Wilson discovered 521 new species and 356 new varieties of woody plants alone and introduced more than 1000 species previously unknown.

He was survived by one daughter, Muriel, who married a young botanist George Lewis Slate, perhaps best known to us for his work with L.candidum - the "Cascade Strain", and his association with the North American lily Society of which he was a founding member.

References:

1. Lily Year Book 1939, Royal Horticultural Society

2. NALS Year Book 1983, "Hunting the Lily Species"

3. A tale of Bravery and Danger, Frances D. Huntingdon.

The above article is a reprint in part from an article written by David Bowen, in the Waikato Lily Society (Inc.) Newsletter, September 2000

Dr. Wallace Windus Dr. Windus was an organic chemist by profession. He began his work with lilies in the 1950's in the Delaware Valley. He was interested in good garden lilies that he obtained from seed he had planted directly in his garden. Dr. Windus gave a great deal of his time and effort to the development of NALS. Dr. Windus' wise counsel and acute judgement greatly benefited the Society. His term marked the start of a sound financial basis for the Society.

His greatest contribution to the lily world, however, was in hybridizing and in the lilies he developed for gardeners, cut flower trade and for hybridizers. His kindness, enthusiasm and encouragement was given freely to new hybridizers along with pollen and bulbs.

His "Gold Lode" won a gold medal in Bonn, the best Asiatic lily in Holland in 1980 and an Award of Merit from Hillogom, Holland. So great was this lily that some Dutch Bulb Growers tried to pirate it, renamed it ?Golden Melody? and tried to re- register it. Many other Windus lilies were introduced by Borbeleta Gardens. A few of them are: "Kismet", "Dawn Star", "Evensong", "Hermes", "Ambrosia", and "Lime Ice".

In the SSLS Historical Garden you will find "Gold Lode", "Hermes sym. Atlas" and "Lime Ice"

*Information for this article was taken from NALS 1997 Yearbook

A Lifetime of Lilies Fred Fellner has lived on his farm near Vermilion, AB for 68 years now, in an area noted for its cold, late spring frosts and long harsh winters. Born in 1931, he was a full time grain and cattle farmer until 2003 when he retired and took to lily breeding full time. This quiet, unassuming man breeds some of the finest Asiatic lilies in the world, despite many challenges over the years. Many notable and world-renowned lily growers have been inspired by Fred, including former NALS President, the late Gene Fox who once said after visiting his fields ‘What an inspiration to continue with lilies.’ Fred was also the recipient of the NALS E. H. Wilson Award in 1995, a prestigious award given to people noted for their contributions to the genus Lilium. Fred has said to me often over the past few years ‘The best is yet to come’. Obviously, Julius Wadekamper from the US felt the same as far back as 1978, when he first introduced a number of Fred’s hybrids in his Borbeleta catalog, saying ‘these are hardy and vigorous lilies of exquisite beauty.’ Mr. Wadekamper is also quoted as saying ‘It seems the Fellner lilies like good wine, get better as time goes on.’ I can’t help but wonder what Mr. Wadekamper would say today if he could see what Fred has accomplished!

Fred breeds for hardiness, disease resistance, high bud counts and fade resistant color. In his own words ‘Beauty is much easier to come by, compared to the attainment of disease tolerance.’ In his climate, Mother Nature lends a helping hand and culls those that do not measure up, resulting in the hardiest Botrytis resistant selections. As for bud counts – well, his lilies have always been known for this feature, and over the past 40-50 years they have certainly increased. In his breeding field this summer of 2008, I saw hundreds of stems with 40-60 buds each! There are roughly 30,000 seedlings growing there, with 8000 -10,000 new planted each spring. 3rd year seedlings are culled each Autumn after he selects any that meet his requirements in breeder stock, as well as a few to evaluate further for registration.

Shrewd gardeners are wise to purchase his mixed lilies as they are the culls from his program each season, and can expect delightful surprises when they begin to bloom. Over the years, his mix has become more and more popular, the point where customers who have purchased them before are now requesting doubles of the bulbs in each bag - it was hard to convince them that they are all unique and 2 bulbs of the same variety are a rarity in his mix! For a sampling of some of the lilies coming from his fields over the past 10 years, please visit http://plantlilies.ca/album/v/eval/fellner/

You might want to bookmark that page, we haven’t added the new selections from 2007-08 yet and oh my, they are simply stunning. The advancement has been the greatest these past 2 years, and as he is fond of saying THE BEST IS YET TO COME!

Lynnette Westfall (Plantlilies.com)

Back to Top