LILIES - RHS Lily Group

70
On the road in search of lilies
Last summer Alan Mitchell travelled to America to see lilies
growing in the wild.
EADERS OF A CERTAIN AGE and literary taste will recognise that the “On the Road”
Rpart
of the title of this article is an allusion to Jack Kerouac’s classic tale of
roaming around America. However, at this point let me allay any concerns about
what might come next, as the trip I made was, thankfully, short on rebellious
behaviour and existential angst, but full of encounters with most of California’s
beautiful species lilies and some of their perhaps slightly wayward, but naturally
occurring, hybrid offspring.
The metaphorical road, that preceded the journey of over 1500 miles in search
of lilies, began when I met Charlie Kroell, at the 2004 RHS Lily Conference, and
mentioned the words, L. henryi var. citrinum. This yellow variety, of the orange
type of L. henryi has a strong fascination for Charlie, as has the legend that it is a
hybrid which was originally discovered in a garden in Melrose, Massachusetts in
1925. Whatever the truth of the matter, i.e. species, variety or hybrid, it was this
“mystery”, debated through the exchange of many lengthy e-mails, that enabled
Charlie and me to further develop the friendship that began when I uttered those
fateful words.
Although lost in the mists of time, which seem to roll ever closer to the present
as the years advance, I assume it was during a lull in the citrinum debate that
Charlie suggested I might enjoy what he called a “lily chase” in California. As
he knew about my preference for species lilies, rather than hybrids, he thought
the prospect of seeing a number of western American species growing in their
natural environments would appeal to me. As the trip would also involve driving
through the Canadian Rockies, en route to the NALS Convention in Edmonton,
which, for someone who has been hill walking for over 30 years, would be
like driving through Nirvana, if that isn’t a sacrilegious thought and/or practice,
I e-mailed Charlie to count me in. The other two members of the lily chase
foursome were Barbara Small (a native Californian whose local lily-knowledge
was essential to the trip’s success) and Kathy Andersen (who had just returned
from plant hunting in China). Although many months had to pass, between
Charlie’s initial proposal and meeting him, and his wife Marijean, at Detroit
Airport, the time was put to good use through his meticulous planning of flights,
accommodation and other details. It was only when I witnessed him precisioncutting
a breakfast pancake that I realised Charlie could not have organised the
essentials of the trip any differently.
Prior to flying to Reno, to meet Barbara and Kathy, I spent some time at Charlie