Lane's Favorite Lily? African Lady

Lane's Favorite Lily? African Lady

African Lady OT Hybrid lilies

 "I took a day to search for God, And found Him not; but as I trod, By rocky ledge, through woods untamed, Just where one scarlet lily flamed, I saw His footprint in the sod."
                                                                                      -William Bliss Carman

Lane DeVries knows a thing or two about lilies. Sun Valley has been growing stunning lilies of all shapes, sizes and varieties for decades. Last fall, while writing an article about our big and bold OT Hybrid Lilies, I asked Lane what is his favorite lily.  This was sort of like asking a parent which of their children is their favorite, but Lane surprised me and answered without hesitation.

"African Lady."

At the time we didn't have any of these OT Hybrids in the ground. "OT" stands for Oriental Trumpet and these lilies have been bred to bring a more diverse color palette to the wonderful world of Oriental lilies.

African Lady is now being harvested on our farm, and all I can say is WOW! I sat down with Lane quickly to get some more details on this outrageous lily.

Huge Blooming African Lady

Lily: Why is African Lady your favorite lily?

Lane: It is one of the hugest flowers I've ever seen, and it's not just size, the striking colors are so dramatic. Dark red, with bright yellow make this lily similar to the classic Shocking OT Hybrid, but African Lady is incredibly saturated.

Lily: Do you do anything differently to grow flowers with such huge blooms?

Lane: We grow these in the glass greenhouses, like a regular Oriental. We use our "Humboldt Gold" soil mix that is very rich and full of nutrients. The bulbs themselves are really big, so we grow about half the amount per crate as we would a Starfighter or White Cup lily.

African Lady

Lily: Who is the breeder for African Lady?

Lane: The bulbs come from our friends at Rooijakkers in Holland.

Lily: How long will we be harvesting these beauties?

Lane: We have some big plantings in the ground, and in the future plan, so expect African Lady to be available through fall, and beyond.

Lily: Thanks Lane!

Our guiding principle #9 is "Continuously improve and innovate." and with African Lady we are staying true to this principle, which leads us directly to guiding principle #6, "Delight and amaze customers."

 African Lady is a very special lily, and really I think you need to see it to believe it. Sun Valley sets itself apart from other growers by bringing new and innovative flowers to market, and this is one of the best examples.

Interview with Lane DeVries about OT Hybrids

Interview with Lane DeVries about OT Hybrids

African Lady Eudoxia Lane DeVries Oriental Trumpet Hybrid Lilies OT Hybrid lilies Shocking Lily Time Zone Lily Yelloween Lily

“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.