I never thought of starting them inside, Mags. I could sure use the sniff. Although I have a hyacinth blooming. Nice.
I buy lily bulbs bulk from Ednie, ADR, and MAK, for potted sales and for my granddaughters cutting garden, and really I must say I have had good success with them. Jo shares them with me sometimes, and she can attest they are pretty much true to name. My point saying this is that I wonder how on earth Van B could mix the bulbs up so badly, when they get them from the same Dutch markets as the other importers.
One time I ordered from Van B. I don't know if Moby remembers this or not, but she commented on my color echoes. I had 5 of the most beautiful raspberry lilies and 4 of the ugliest orange ones. I had purchased 3 sets of the raspberry, and planted them all in a group. I contacted Van B, who would do nothing about it. I even sent them a picture. They insisted I had gotten the orange from somewhere else.
Having said that, everyone should buy from our US growers, like The Lily Garden. And how much more beautiful are their special lilies! And to keep them selling and hybridizing we need to purchase from them.
