Recently, the editors at GARDEN DESIGN have been working on a story for the July/August issue about all of the new amazing hybrid lilies that are being developed for the cut flower and the bulb market by Dutch bulb breeders, including Gebr. Vletter & Den Haan, in Rijnsburg, and Mak Breeding B.V., in Wieringerwerf, both in the Netherlands.
I had a chance to go behind the scenes and visit the masses of lilies before they were shot and I wanted to give our readers a sneak peek at some of these amazing flowers.
The lilies were held at Rainbows, Flowers and Fantasies, florist James Rainbow's studio, and while I took photos, he told me all about his career (he did the flowers for As The World Turns and Guiding Light for years!) and gave me some tips for keeping lilies fresh. He also put together a dramatic arrangement with some of the lilies.
And if you're interested in seeing some of these lilies in person, be sure to check out Lilytopia, which will be held from May 20 to May 30 at Pennsylvania's Longwood Gardens. There will be more than 13,000 stems of lilies, including many of the new introductions shown in this slide show.
