Scenes from the Green Expo: Lilies for your Desk!

At the Gardenworld booth at the Green Expo last week, I got the chance to inspect the new dwarf-sized “Lily Looks” Asiatic lilies—the ones introduced to much fanfare at the 2007 OFA (one of the big-deal floriculture tradeshows, held every year in Ohio). These are really quite the development, because traditional Asiatic lilies make such beautiful cut flowers, and would make lovely potted flowering plants, but they’re so TALL. Enter Wetering Potlilium, of Den Hoorn, Holland, who bred this new line of genetically short Asiatics that if trial studies at the University of Michigan are any indication, are quite the hardy little devils and produce nice, big blooms in six colors: red, yellow, white, orange, pink, and purple. The idea is to keep them on your desk or dining table the first year as potted plant, and then plant them in the garden to use as a perennial. (My advice is, force them to bloom in the winter the first year… it really was marvelous to see all those vibrant lilies right after Christmas!) Gardenworld of St. Paul, the Midwest wholesaler, tells me that lots of the big and small garden centers have picked them up for 2009 including Gertens and Linder’s. If you’re shopping at Home Depot, look for a label that says “Viva!” Growing information can be found here.