Jo Ann, I think my own experience is typical. That is when all these beautiful new hybrids late 80's and 90's were coming onboard, I was so overwhelmed by this new beauty and robust stamina that I just couldn't get enough of it. I just bought and bought and bought, everything I could get my hands on, filling up my gardens with these beautiful plants. And mass marketing with the advent of big box stores made it easy for me. In the meantime, most of my older varieties like the Mid Century Hybrids that I had been hanging on to were left to languish and die or in some case even destroyed in favor of new more beautiful ones like Stargazer. It's that mass marketing of this beauty sells and that translates into $$$dollars which perpetuates into more availability thru mass production and ease of getting an 'instant beautiful plant' to the customer. Species and Marts are not that easy or quick to mass produce (it's all about the $$dollar) for profit. And they're difficult to handle on the shelves of mass marketing outlets like big box stores without damage. This, all coupled with the near elimination of independant mail order growers like Jungs, Gurneys, etc and the near extinction of small town type garden centers have led us to where we're at today. It's not so much that they are slower or more finicky as much as they were a victim of modern business techniques and money.
Now, is there a 'silver lining' in all of this? Yes, I think so. I believe what big box stores have done by default, has created an exposure and awareness to lilies like never before. And, as more and more people use them more and more, this will generate into a deeper interest by many. So as a positive consequence of mass marketing, there should develop a greater interest in the Species and Marts as well. That's why in my note to Rick above, I think we just might see it happen. I hope so.
