'Luxurious' a neat early flowering oriental that varies with its double-ness. I enjoy all the work Lisa has put into oriental breeding.

A little bitty group shot of the Fred Fellner culled lilies. The yellow one with the maroon brush in the center is one that catches my eye in this mix. I can't imagine I would have culled that one.

Me either! I just add my Wow! So many nice ones today my head is spinning.

What a great brush with the drak solid lily.

Ramona, your lilies are stunning as always. I hope they move well to their new home

Tracey said:I can't imagine I would have culled that one.

I can.
Before its day it might have been worthy, but there are so many lilies that are very similar now.
Now I can't say if the foregoing is all true, since photos can play tricks sometimes, but this is what I see that doesn't sit well as a top class entry:
--- Buds rising like airborn rockets already too high in the sky. Very distracting.
--- A large open space on the stem just below the flowers - no leaves.
--- Foliage is clean, but nothing to crow about either.

I am sure (and actually, obviously) Fred had better ones to continue his breeding. Still, it's a level of quality I would be happy with for me!

A friend of mine bought one of Terry Willaby's (sp?) martagon rejects at our North Star Lily Society sale a couple years ago. The result was a solid red, perhaps with a tinge of orange mixed in (no maroon tinting at all) and an open form. Quite stunning.

Wow is really all there is to say! Wow.

Tracey, your Luxurious nearly made me cry. I got three from Buggy in the fall, and 2 of them came up beautifully thick and strong this spring, only to rot right before my eyes. I thought the third was a no-show, but then I discovered it last week about four inches tall, with three buds, If I remember right. Odd looking thing.

I've admired your morden butterfly year after year. That and Hiawatha are my two biggest temptations right now.

Like you Donna, I got Champagne in the fall, and am really delighted with it. Such a soft color. And long lasting blooms.

Isn't part of hybridizing creating and keeping what it is you want to see? I am no lily judge, that's for sure But I do adore the tall ones, even when they reach for the sky. So the unappealing part would be that there aren't more flowers on the way up the stem? Bud count?

I would guess that based on what I have seen as pod parents and pollen parents on the Lily Register, that many that aren't registered, are parents one way or another, of ones that are registered.

Don't cry Laura! It will be nicer next year. I have about 12 of them, so I am showing you the best of the best, or the best as I see it, of course. It really varies in the way it doubles too.

And you would love Morden Butterfly and Hiawatha. The colors are very special.

Mags, do your Hiawathas have hairy buds? Just wunderin'...

Oh yeah...furry buds. Here's is the unveiled furry bud now.

The official 'Peach Lace' from the Lily Garden

'Jacqueline'

"Bright Diamond' smells so gooooood! Mmmmmmmm

One of the 'Flugelhorn' trumpets lilies from the Lily Garden.

'Summer Palace'.....I could have a million of these trumpet lilies.

'Night Flyer' an awesome dark lily.

'Sun Valley' bred by Johan Mak sold by B & D Lilies.

Laura,

Go, go, go with Hiawatha. It's unbelievable.

Look how this thing pops even with competition from nikkis and saponaria bouncing bet, an attention hog if ever there was. And these are first year bulbs!!!

Qualities for breeding are in the eye of the beholder. What I see as distracting, others may not. My eyes were drawn to the buds shooting up like fireworks yet to explode, and luring my eyes away from the flower. http://cubits.org/liliesforum/... To me, they are very uninteresting buds, yet, at least in that pic, my focus bobbles between the flower and the bud. If that is really a characteristic of the plant and not just the photograph, given the similarities of that flower to others already on the market, I'd say it needs improvement.

Of course bud count is important, but not knowing the age of the plant, I would not venture judgment. I could not say if bud count is acceptable or not.