Interview with Lane DeVries about OT Hybrids

“Flowers leave some of their fragrance in the hand that bestows them”
-Chinese proverb

Our classic Shocking OT Hybrid

Oriental Trumpet hybrid lilies have been bred to bring fall colors to the Oriental color palette. OT Hybrids, sometimes called Orienpets, display the best qualities of Orientals with the best qualities of Trumpets. These lilies capture the wonderful reds, oranges, and yellows of fall Trumpet lilies, with the shape and scent of an Oriental.

Time Zone OT Hybrid

I tracked down Lane to ask him about our OT Hybrid program.

Lily: What’s so special about OT Hybrids, what's the big deal?

Lane: OT’s were developed to bring new colors to the Oriental lily scene. Before OTs all Orientals were white, pink and red. It was about 1999 when OT’s came on the market commercially, although I saw some in greenhouses as early as 1988. The three original OTs were Yelloween, Orania and Shocking. We still grow Yelloween and Shocking…right now the greenhouse looks great.

Lily: Any special considerations for growing OT Lilies?

Lane: Unlike most lilies, OTs do really well in hot climates. Right now they are very popular in southern China and Southeast Asia where it is generally too hot to grow a traditional Oriental. We actually have been growing them at our farm in St. Catharines, Ontario during the summer, and they thrive in the hot summer weather.

Lily: What about the bulbs?

Lane: We grow our OT's from only the biggest bulbs, this leads to the best bud counts. The trade off is that these bulbs are also the most expensive bulbs to buy of any lily variety. Luckily the demand for the rich, saturated colors of OT Hybrids is high, so it is worthwhile for us to grow them. Plus, I think they are going to continue to grow in popularity, so as we perfect growing OTs we will be well ahead of the curve.

Lily: What’s the difference between growing OTs compared to a regular Oriental, such as a Starfighter.

Lane: The OT’s like more light, we don’t use the shade clothes at all. This gets us thicker stems which are essential, since the blooms are huge.

Ovatie OT Hybrid

Lily: What about the new varieties I have seen out in the greenhouses?

Lane: We have Ovatie which is a pale white, in the sales office we call it “Maureen White” since it is about the same tone as our Maureen French Tulip. We have a new light pink called Table Danceand there is a warm yellow named Eudoxia. Hands down the new variety getting the most attention is Time Zone, this is a dark pink, purple, going to white in the throat, it’s really eye catching and very unique.

Lily: Did you just say “Table Dance”?

Lane: (laughing) Hey, I don’t name these lilies, I just grow them!

Lane with Time Zone

Lily: What's your favorite OT Hybrid?

Lane: My favorite is actually African Lady, it’s just stunning. We don’t have any in the ground right now, but I have it in our growing plan for summer 2014… so this is something to look forward to.

Lane's favorite, African Lady.

Lily: Thanks Lane!

Shocking Lilies awaiting harvest.

Well, there you have it. OT Hybrids grown in the clear skies and clean water of northern California are coming on strong this fall. This a year round program so we will always have OT’s. However, now through the end of November our teams will be picking some big numbers. So if you love these lilies, now is the time to order some, and if you are new to OT Hybrids now is the best time to get to know them.