Just curious why Nurseries/Plant Companies eg: Michigan Bulb, Park Seed etc. change names of plants? I ordered a couple of lily bulbs called Mystery Night Lily (Guess the word Mystery should have been my first clue ). Here is the link http://www.michiganbulb.com/pr... The order arrived today so, of course I go look them up in the ATP Lily Data Base. Nothing. Googled it, nothing ...So I go to the web site and look again and down lower on the page it has the plant listed as Botanical Name: Lilium 'Commander in Chief' (Asiatic). So back to the data base I go. Lily (Lilium 'Commander in Chief') Well.....The lily on their page looks no where near the same color. Are they falsifying what they are selling or am I confused or missing something?

It's Michigan Bulb Company... they make it up. On the other hand, I see that 'Commander in Chief' is not registered with the RHS Lily Register. This would have provided a detailed description of the lily.

I see that the 4th Supplement to the Lily Register is now published but my pdf reader is not compatible. Try this link, click on the top link (4th supplement etc) and see if you can find Commander in Chief. It may have been recently registered. You should be able to use Ctrl F to open a search box at the bottom of your screen to enter the name. I would like someone to do this so we can see if it is registered.

http://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/p...

@pardalinum Thanks! I'll check it out and let you know. I have to leave for a bit but I definitely want to look it up.

Cat, the catalogs will do anything to sell bulbs. My favorite is selling oriental trumpet lilies as "lily trees". If your bulb blooms true to the picture I would say it is likely 'Landini' or 'Dimension' as they are the only dark upfacing asiactics that I know of.

Joe, I totally agree with you!

Commander in Chief resembles those in the plant data base, especially the ones by Piksihk. I've grown both Landini and Commander in Chief in the past. Ad photo is most likely Landini.

Wow, Okay. That only makes it more confusing to figure out what they really sold me. I don't think they should be able to do that but I guess they can.

Well post your pictures here when they bloom. If they look like what we have in the database you can add your photos.

Connie, I sure will. I am still going to do some checking. Guess I won't really know until they do bloom. Just seems like they are lying about what they are selling. Probably won't order any more lilies from them...

@pardalinum I checked the register. Commander In Chief IS NOT listed.

Catherine, if you want some truly great lilies, buy from a specific Lily vendor.
Not to plug anyone in particular but B&D lilies, The Lily Garden, and Faraway Flowers (if she is selling anymore) are three that I've used that are great and have all been true to the catalog photo.

@Cat I now know that it is not registered. There are some lilies in commerce that are not registered but maybe some day they will be.

Thanks Joe for the info. I will definitely check them out!

Connie, I guess I did not know that.