Several years ago while DG was going strong I bought an Orienpet advertised as "Boogie Woogie" (About 2006). Well, here we are several years later, and it's still NOT "Boogie Woogie"! Here is the DG Plantfiles page with excellent pictures:

Whatever I got is a wonderful Orienpet with excellent growth and health habits. It has multiplied so fast I've had to plant them in rows in the vegetable garden. They have a mild clove scent, and a row can perfume the whole back yard. They top out at about 6' with loads of flowers. My problem is not having a name for this great lily! Is there anybody out there who has one like it? And do you know its name if so?

The company I was ordering from seemed to not understand the importance of plant ID. I no longer buy through them for that reason. Here are some views of what it looks like: The middle picture is a row of bulblets growing with the vegetables. They seem to start blooming at about 8". Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions .

I have an Orienpet blooming today. Its a yellow self. Labelled: SERRANO

Leon,last year,i purchased 3 serendipity orienpets,at quite a hefty price,from a reputable seller.What i ended up flowering was a 'ryirube brown' and 2 'regale crosses'.Nothing to complain about,.On a phone call to the seller,i was assured the bulbs came from a reputable grower,have i got photos,he will check and get back to me,.,.,.Yeah sure ,..,i didnt buy from the seller this year

I think the lily industry, other than the own growers must be the most mixed up in the flower industry.

Michael, Serrano is a gorgeous lily. It seems like the coloring is just a bit different? And your foliage seems to have a different shade? Could this be because of a difference in our cameras? Or possible the lighting? I really appreciate your help: Maybe I can call mine Serrano II since that is much closer than Boogie Woogie. Thanks for posting.

Anthony, your points are valid & well taken. Like you, once I get "burned" with the wrong product I don't go back for more! Even though I got an excellent plant with super garden looks; it's not what I asked for and wanted! !

Polly I agree with your assessment! Is it OK to ask for reputable suppliers from this forum's members and their experiences; good or bad? I don't want to get into uncharted territory.

Oh, absolutely. In fact it seems we have a thread about that. Ah, here it is.

The thread "Lily Sources" in Lilies forum

I'm kind of two minds about where I buy my lilies from. I buy the cheap ones from Ednie or ADR knowing, going in, that I will probably have some wrongly named ones. I sell those potted in my nursery, with no names, just Asiatic, or whatever, use them for landscaping, and for a cutting garden for my granddaughter. If I get wrongly named ones, so be it.

But then I buy from The Lily Garden for my special ones. My showcase ones. And now I know from here some other sources for the nice ones.

You most likely would have been disappointed if it had turned out to be the real Boogie Woogie. The pink edge, (the main attraction) only shows up if it is cold when bloom occurs. I grew it for about 5 years and saw the pink once, and then it faded after a day or two. A number of people who have grown it have complained on the forums that they never see the pink edge.

Aside from the lack of pink, it does have a nice bud count and multiplied well for me, but eventually I figured there were better lilies I could have to take up that space.

Also, I think 3 of the B. W. photos on Plantfiles are not B. W. No surprise there when anything goes!

Connie, thanks for the input: That would solve a lot of problems if the pink rarely shows up. I still have the shipping tag with the big bold pink edges on the flower. I've got to be honest, I got these from American Meadows, and have mixed feelings about ordering from anybody other than the growers. I was just over at The Lily Garden browsing, but it's not updated for fall yet. Any suggestions for sources from yourself? Thanks for your valued input! (Yes, anything sometimes goes in PF: They need a moderator!)


Michael, The more I look at your pictures, the more research I do. I found this at The Lily Garden:

"Why can flower color vary in Orienpets? Because of their complex ancestry and the interaction of many pigments, Orienpet lilies often have more intensely colored flowers in cooler weather. Heat and bright light can lighten their colors. The same stem of ‘Smoky Mountain’ may have some flowers heavily washed in red, with just a touch of gold near the edges, and golden flowers with a light watercolor wash of red."

I also found this picture of Serrano on the 3rd page of the Orienpets: http://www.thelilygarden.com/p...

So I may be closer than I originally thought. It is also why I appreciate members taking time to post pictures for comparison. Once again, thanks!

Pard, that's exactly one of the reasons I want to keep the database separate on Irises Cubit. Dee and I have checked every single one of those irises for accuracy. Plant files is horrible for mistakes. It's still a good resource, but so many mistakes.

And Polly, you know I've got a couple irises in there which are accurate!

Polly, that was exactly what I was thinking (Iris DB) when I saw the incorrect IDs on PF.

When looking for a vendor don't forget the Garden Watchdog where you can get the dirt on a company right from the horses mouth. You don't have to be a subscriber to Dave's Garden to access it.

And finally, just a reminder that when trying to ID a lily there is more to it than what the flower looks like. How is the flower oriented? Is it upfacing, outfacing or downfacing? You can see from Judith's photo in the Lily Garden catalog that Serrano is upfacing; that is one criteria to assist in identification. But keep in mind there can be other upfacing yellow orienpets. The Dutch seem to churn them out like crazy.

Yes, I do, Leon!

Maybe this winter we can all put our heads together and see if we can come up with a lilies database.

Here is a photo (last year) of what I purchased as BOOGIE WOOGIE

'Boogie Woogie' is not very exciting, in my opinion. It is creamy white at best, even our cool summer a couple of years ago didn't bring out the pink edge it is supposed to sport. Other lilies that year were much more vibrant in color...not that one.

Here are a couple of pictures that I am comparing to Mike's last picture above. Based on what Connie said the pink rarely, if ever shows up, and only in cooler weather. That pretty well solves that "mystery". I am beginning to think the seller's picture is the culprit. I scanned a copy that I saved from 2006, and it looks like this:



I hope people can see why I asked about its ID; since it looks nothing like the actual flower! This picture is from July 11th when they looked a lot nicer in the garden. And it is a very nice lily, no matter what it turns out to be.



I am beginning to believe I have the real "Boogie Woogie' since it looks so much like Michael's last picture above, and based on Connie's information about the pink color. I also believe so many mis-leading pictures get out there like the ones in Plantfiles, and less than reputable sellers' pictures just do not match whatever it is they're selling. This can be confusing to anyone! So, I guess the lesson for me is "where you buy can make a vast difference in what you actually get".

Ummmm... not quite... Mike's lily may not be correct either (not B.W.). Let's all go visit the Lily Register where lilies are first described:

http://www.lilyregister.com/re...

The key descriptors that stand out to me are: papillae sparse, pollen vivid orange, pale yellow-green (4D), lighter toward tepal-tips, stigma yellow-green. Mike's lily certainly doesn't have "sparse" papillae (it has lots of papillae) and it is hard to tell the pollen color on his lily. Papillae are those bumps that are present on many lilies and in particular Orientals. Pollen color should be observed just when the anther "dehisces" (releases pollen). Otherwise the sun bleaches out the color (good way to remove pollen stains on clothing).

I purchased B.W. not too long after it came out, but again, it was in one of those packages of Dutch bulbs from a garden center. I found this in my photo archives and is apparently my only photo, no close ups. I do recall the blooms fading as they matured.



I'll go out on a limb and say the photo on the package is correct, in particular the pale yellow center lightening to the edge of the petals. It looks like what mine looked like; I just couldn't count on the pink edges. Something else I have noticed and that is digital cameras tend to over emphasize the pink edges. I see it in my own photography using my Nikon Coolpix camera.

I have Boogie Woogie, also, and it looks quite a bit like the pictures. Except the pink is less. I don't have a picture, and I'm not sure if it bloomed yet or not. Mine came from Netherland Bulb which is where the package show is from. It seems to me that the white part has a sheen or opalescence about it.

Redemption of 'Boogie Woogie' to me, if it were to be able to be crossed with something, keeping its nice form and replacing the color.

I never got a pod to form on Boogie, but then again I know alot more about what to use than I knew back then .

I recall a kind of sheen on it too. It also multiplied well. When it crowded itself out I decided it was time for it to go as I needed the space.