I would like to know which Lily last the longest? I am not talking about the Day-lily ether.
What Lily last the longest?
Anything is particular that you have in mind? Asiatic, Oriental...?
Since I'm no authority, and most of my lilies bolted, my hardiest this year have been the zantedeschia's or calla lily, not a lilium, but absoutely gorgeous. Each lasts about 3 weeks, and never really dies out completely.
In average weather, the lily buds do not open all at once. This year, not only have all the asiatics come and gone just about, but the orientals that general bloom at the beginning of August are out, and in full bloom. I've never had such bad good luck.
While I've pretty much got a handle on lily beetles, those june bugs are eating the callas which never happened so much in the past. To my surprise, they also find dahlias a pleasant meal.
Do you mean that your lilies blasted? (loss of buds)
My longest lasting lily this year has been 'Morden Butterfly'. It has bloomed for a month.
Red Velvet and Kentucky come to my mind.
'Robinson's Comet' is another.
I agree with Kentucky lasting quite a while...
Moby, generally when the asiatics have 9-12 buds, 2 or 3 open, and as they wind down, within a couple of days, 2 or 3 more open, etc. This year, we had an untolled amount of rain (enough to destroy the peonies), then it warmed up really quickly.
Instead of having 1 or 2 blooms or maybe 3 open at once, every bud opened at once. Now that the orientals are opening, the same thing is happening, only they don't have nearly as many buds. Unfortunately I have also had some loss of buds, but I believe it is mostly my own fault. I may have burned some of the tender shoots very zealously with my red lily beetle discourager.
Regarding length of bloom time, you might also want to consider those lilies that produce secondary and tertiary blooms.
I tried to provide a link to the NALS site for the good definition of secondary and teriary, but ran into a problem. I am on dial-up, at the moment I am relegated to using an old pc with a very small processor. I am computer savvy, and it runs on bare bones programs, even a bare bones browser, but since the webmaster has added revolving high pixel images to the NALS site, it almost freezes my pc, and an image blocker is not available with this browser. I've never had this problem before, even on the news sites. I went to send a message to the webmaster at NALS, but find it is the same person who chastised me when we had the discussion on the Yahoo Lilium group about raising kilobyte limits per message. So I'll get no help from him.
So until I get my new pc back and running, perhaps some can help me with a link?
Here is a link to NALS.... http://www.lilies.org/
Was there a more specific link you were wanting to post?
Maybe it is not so important after all, but NALS has (or had) a page where it defines the meaning of secondary and tertiary buds as it relates to lilies, and a drawing that shows what they are.
I think I know the page you're referring to and can't find it. Can't say I like the new site at all.
If you scroll down about half way here http://www.mikesbackyardgarden.org/lilygen.html there is a pic and explanation.
I'd like to keep a record sometime of how many days it is from the time the first bloom opens till the last one is finished on each of my lilies. It seems to me that Royal Highness blooms a very long time and also Leslie Woodriff.
Thanks Moby. It's not as good as the NALS drawing, but it will suffice. However, integral to the concept is knowing where the cetral stem of the flowering stalk is, which that pic doesn't show!!! (It would be just off the photo to the left.)
Another thing came to mind, which I should have thought of outright:
Lilies with heavy petal substance (thicker petals) last longer, in general. That would especially be the triploid and tetraploid crosses(3n and 4n).
When I ask what the longest lasting Lilies were I meant out of the Oriental , Asiatic , Tiger Lilies? This is the first time I have ever had lilies so I don't know allot about them.
Oh, well, you should always plant lilies of each type. That way you'll have lilies for quite some time. :)
Well, Golden Eagle, you've sparked a good conversation anyway.
Of your three, Tiger lilies (a type of asiatic) would be the least long lasting.
Between the asiatics and orientals, I am not sure. Asiatics taking up the first half of the season, and orientals taking up the last half. I just don't grow enough of either type to know.
Because I love orientals best, their bloom times seems fleeting to me. Especially so if you happen to have a heat wave, which is usually the case for me. Most asiatics and LA's are tougher in my opinion.