LILIES - RHS Lily Group

the Lyttel Cup. When I mentioned that I liked fritillaries as well as lilies, he
dropped his voice and whispered conspiratorially that he had always found
them “drab, brown little things”. Although he was a skilled and enthusiastic lily
hybridiser, Bill believed that such plants were destined to go out of cultivation
sooner or later, so he only registered four of his many creations. After his death
in 2001, the Group was given his lily library and collection of bulbs. Their
sale led to the establishment of a Bill Baker Fund that goes to support notable
achievements in the lily world.
After Tim stepped down as Chairman of the Committee, Harris Howland was
prevailed upon to take over once again. As well as having an expert’s eye for
a good lily, Harris has a knack for strengthening the Committee. He persuaded
Alisdair Aird to join, as well as nurserymen Richard Hyde and Nigel Rowland,
and got Alan Hooker back again to do the seed distribution. For a number of
years he and Colin Crosbie formed an irresistible double-act at the annual bulb
auction. Under his leadership, the website started by Ian Boyd assumed even
greater importance with Jeff Coe as webmaster.
The biggest event of this period was undoubtedly the 2004 International Lily
Conference, masterminded by Tim Whiteley and attended by dozens of members
from all over the world. After days of fascinating lectures and garden visits, the
conference culminated in a lily show at Wisley and a gala dinner where John
Lykkegaard was awarded the Lyttel Cup.
Today the Lily Group faces a number of challenges, some of them to its very
identity. Brent reports that “in 1978 Council decided that the Committee should
become semi-independent”, and we have remained that way ever since. The
Society is now asking fundamental questions about how (and if) the Lily Group
fits into its larger picture. Our “semi-independent” relationship is no longer
tenable, and we must redefine it. The Committee is grappling with various
possible outcomes, and was helped and encouraged by the frank exchange
of views that took place at the 2007 AGM in Birmingham. Along with the
challenges there is a plethora of exciting opportunities. E-mail allows us to keep
in touch with an ever-increasing number of our members without depending on
an expensive and unreliable postal service. The internet can be mined for the
most extensive and arcane information on lilies. Plant breeders keep on coming
up with ravishing new hybrids while there is simultaneously much greater
awareness of the importance of keeping the older ones in cultivation. In 1932
Frederick Stern said in Council that “there is no doubt that there is a want among
members and the public to join some body devoted to lilies and their culture,
where they can air their views and hear other views on their especial subject”.
Seventy-five years on, it’s still true.
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