I call these lilies for the garden because I don't think that the cut flower trade would be interested in them with their long tall stems and high bud count, but they are great for the garden/border at between 5 and 6 feet tall. The last seedling pictured had at least 50 buds - 52 I believe it was and I think it was just over 6 feet tall.

All really nice ones, Jim! I'm not a big fan of orange but that red-orange one is exceptional. Love them all!

Fantastic work, Jim. 50+ buds is amazing for Asiatics. Where did such a high bud count come from?

Wonderful, Jim. I love lilies with high bud count and these are superb. They must bloom for a very long time. Looks so sturdy, too. The red-orange is my favorite as well. From a gardening standpoint it's insane that lilies with this type of huge, magnificent inflorescence basically is completely missing in commerce.

Joshua, mainly just selecting for tall seedlings, but I have to say that most will go back to Fred Fellner and Jean Ericksen seed that was sent to me over the years. I am going to try to see if I can get 1c or downfacing seedlings with this bud count and tall too although at this height outfacing is probably the way to go. However, as I think I pointed out before the upfacing moderately recurved is nice as well. Here are a couple of seedlings that are very tall as well, but the bud count is down. I can't really fault them as the flowers are so well placed and there are no secondary buds either. They are close to six feet as well and to back to 'Giraffe'.

Boy, nice work. Wish I could get such high bud counts in my seedlings - I'll have to work on it!

I used to not like orange much, but the b/c orientation really changed that for me, 'Pumpkin Pagoda' , 'Parkland Orange' ... just to name a couple that swayed me over orange a bit.

Jim that burnt orange with such a high bud count is stellar. If only I could be that lucky in hybridizing. Nice work!

Thanks to all for the positive comments - they do matter to hybridizers.

Tracey, it is kind of funny/odd about what a bad rap orange lilies were getting. Even I used to look at this seedling and think - I guess its another orange lily, but still I thought it was such a nice lily as far as structure etc. and the red back on it certainly added to the flower. That must have been the reason I moved it into my select seedling bed and now, with all the positive comments on it, I think I might just let it increase for me. This was just its third season so it appears to be a good strong lily.

Jim, I really like the one in the third picture myself. All are nice though. I like orange lilies, but I like them with something extra to give them character. Not just a plain orange flower.

I totally agree Dave about how the orange lily has to work a little harder to be acceptable to me!

JimSaskatoon said:

These ones right here are fantastic! Love the color of pink with the spotting and the high bud count. Do you give these guys names or reference numbers?

I'm also s big fan of the fuzzy buds. They show more character in the bud stage.

I have read that the fuzzy buds seem to help against late Frosts as well. With the hairs, they Friday can't attach to the bud itself and is a little insulation

Tracy, here is a seedling in my ruffled edge seedling patch with fuzzy buds - around 25 buds I think. I can't believe I don't have a photo of it with any flowers open. I will have to do that this season.
It was the only seedling that displayed fuzzy buds in the group.

Interesting about the frost and fuzzy buds, Dave. Makes sense to me.

Nice, Jim. The fuzzy buds seem to also keep sucking insects away.

Those buds in your picture look nice with your companion plant.

Jim, your your picture of the buds with the hair on then reminds me of 'Harry Munster' offered by Valley K. https://plantlilies.com/shop/c...

Harry Munster doesn't seem to be very hair at all at the time that pic was taken. In the early stages of bud growth, that's when buds are always the hairiest. And that's also when it is needed, as the earlier in the growing season, the greater the possibility of damaging cold temps. When the buds don't lose their hairiness as they grow, that's the one with the best genes, decoratively speaking (and in my opinion).
I do have furry ones, but only one in this "best gene" group. And of course, I don't have a pic of that one, either!

Way cool, never seen hairy buds!

Rick, not sure if you scrolled down on the page of the link. They use to have a close up of the buds with the hairs on them, but I can't find it. But this is one picture, though not a good one.

As it happens I am growing out some seed that I received from a friend who obtained the seed from China. They are described as fuzzy or pubescent budded L. pumilum. These photos were taken by Jim Ault who also grew out some of this seed. He said that the fuzziness fell off as the flower matured - too bad in a way as an open flowered or nonrecurved flower on a lily with this fuzziness would certainly be interesting.
I will have to see if maybe I have some time to work on this interesting trait - not that I need another project though.