LILY SOCIETY PRESENTS FIVE LECTURES ACROSS NORTHERN ILLINOIS IN SPRING EDUCATION PROGRAM

The Wisconsin Illinois Lily Society will sponsor five slide/show lectures and demonstrations throughout Northern Illinois during its January-April 16th Annual Spring Education Series as part of its public outreach program for gardeners interested in growing and propagating true lilies.

JANUARY TALK TO BE IN NORTHBROOK
The first free, public talk will be "How To Put Glam in Your North Shore Gardens With Lilies," " at 2.00 PM on Sunday, January 12, at the Northbrook Public Library, 1201 Cedar Lane, Northbrook, given by Woodruff Imberman. A Winnetka resident, he is past president of the Lily Society and lectures widely on lilies at garden clubs throughout the Midwest. He is the author of numerous articles in regional and national horticultural magazines on lilies, is an amateur lily hybridizer, an accredited international lily judge, and has won many awards for his lilies.

Those attending will be taught simple propagation techniques for growing lilies, learn about the wide variety of lilies that flourish in our area, and how to design a garden with lilies so some are in bloom all Summer long.

Please visit and like our page, "Wisconsin Illinois Lily Society" to keep abreast of other upcoming events after the January talk.

ken

I did the daylily thing (yes, I know they aren't true lilies) for about a decade - collecting, hybridizing and selling on the internet. I have come to really dislike the fact that they don't 'self clean'. When you have hundreds of varieties, your garden can look pretty messy from day to day. So - I kept those I really loved and mowed the rest down. (and mowed and mowed for two years!)

Then, collecting peonies was fun. Still is. No problems with them at all.

So, sell me on lilies.

RyseRyse, I too was originally a huge daylily fan (hey, that could be a joke). I still have all of mine, but seldom buy more. I got into true lilies because my garden was really stuffed, and lilies have such a small footprint. I can always shoehorn another lily in. I really like the vertical element. I hear people complain about the (mostly) bare stems, but heck, I have other stuff growing lower down to camouflage that. They are just so majestic, and each flower lasts a long time. If you are into scent, there are many with a wonderful perfume.

They are divided into a number of classes. Simply (and leaving stuff out), Asiatics, Orientals, Species (both early and late bloomers) and Trumpets. Blooming times vary between the divisions. There are also crosses between divisions.

The easiest to start with are Asiatics. Orientals (which have the richest perfume) are harder to grow unless you have perfect drainage. In clay soil of the Chicago area, those don’t flourish. I grow a lot of Orienpets, which are a cross between Orientals and Trumpets. Unlike either of their parent divisions, orienpets are not fussy. Tall, huge flowers, very dramatic.