LILIES - RHS Lily Group

equired reading for enthusiasts on lilies and fritillaries with no less than 250
pages of text. However, the Year Book became an untenable financial burden
on the Society and was discontinued after 1971. Agreement was reached on a
more modest publication entitled Lilies and Allied Plants but this too foundered
on the matter of costs and sales. To the continuing despair of librarians (even
today!) there was an interim publication entitled The RHS Lily Group Bulletin,
published as a 50 th anniversary edition in 1982, before the Group fell back on the
title Lilies and Related Plants published approximately biennially. There was a
single supplement in 1990 which comprised the proceedings of the 5 th London
International Conference of 1989.
This brief history brings us almost up to date. Throughout the existence of
the Lily Group there have been regular meetings, lectures, visits to gardens and,
replacing the gradually faltering lily competitions at Westminster shows, a series
of fine co-operative exhibits of lilies mainly from members’ gardens resulting
in the award of a string of fritillaries (very much the plants of the moment) and
alliums (perhaps still awaiting a breakthrough in mass popularity) have also
been produced at shows. With the incredibly successful 5 th (1989) International
Conference as a lasting tribute to her persistence and foresight, Mrs Simmons
bowed out as Chairman of both Committee and Group in 1990 and has been
succeeded by Mr Harris Howland. The Lily Group’s membership stands currently
at over 600 with nearly 120 overseas members in 21 different countries.
A Review of English language
Monographs on the Genus Lilium
1873 – 2006
Cameron Carmichael has assessed the lily literature of the past
150 years and shares his thoughts.
AVE YOU EVER ASKED or been asked if you could recommend a good book on
Hlilies?
The answer to this might be fairly simple, however if someone asked
if you could recommend a good book on lily taxonomy the answer might be
slightly different. My own attention to this matter was drawn a few years ago
when a second hand book list appeared with five works on lilies, two of which
I was familiar with and the other three I knew nothing about. Needless to say
being a true Scotsman I decided to hold onto my bawbees and not invest in what
might have been frivolous literature. I have since wondered just what I missed.
35