Lilum African Queen
I have been told that the Lily is grown on a much larger scale than the Tulip. That surprised me because in the Netherlands there are approximately 4,000 hectares of Lilies planted annually while the Tulip is considerably higher with its more than 14,000 hectares.
Lilies in a greenhouse in Italy, Pompeii
Like the Tulip, the Lily is also grown for the most part for flower production. With the Lily, it can be more than 95% of the bulbs that end up in greenhouses worldwide to be harvested as cut flowers.
Lilies in a greenhouse in Japan
These Lilies in the greenhouses are generally not the Lilies that we as garden lovers like to plant in our gardens. They are usually species that have been bred entirely for the purpose of blooming as cut flowers in the protected environment of a greenhouse.
The ideal Lily to cut a flower from has many buds that are as straight up as possible on a long sturdy stem so that they can be processed well in a bunch of 5 or 10 stems. It is also a good characteristic if they do not take too long to bloom so that another set of Lilies can be planted in the greenhouse quickly.
Lilium Anastasia
Exactly what we gardeners appreciate so much in the Lily; a loose inflorescence with sideways or hanging flowers is not appreciated at all in cut lilies. That is also understandable, if you have to travel to the flower auction with a few bunches of Lilium Anastasia, they come out of the box or bucket with broken flowers and broken buds
Lilium Casa Blanca
Fortunately, there are still a number of beautiful garden lilies to be found and there are even a few growers who have completely dedicated themselves to the cultivation of garden lilies, so there is certainly still something beautiful to be found for the garden.
But these are still almost all bulbs that were grown in the Netherlands, so they come from those 4,000 hectares. Where are all those Lilies that make the area of the Lily larger than that of the Tulip?
Well, it turns out that is in China.
I have been to Japan once and a Japanese customer there told me the following about Chinese eating habits: The Chinese eat everything, even everything with legs except the table and they also eat everything with wings except an airplane. The Chinese will certainly have something to say about Japanese eating habits but when he told me it sounded funny. The Japanese man told us this in a restaurant where he was happily nibbling on a plate of moderately peeled shrimps stuffed in rice with a leaf of seaweed around it.
The Lilium lancifolium is apparently eaten in China not only for its taste but also for medicinal reasons.
So you guessed it, that huge amount of Lilies that we know nothing about are grown in China to eat. When we garden lovers see a Lily, we usually think something like 'wow, that's beautiful' while a Chinese person might think 'I wonder what it tastes like...? 10 minutes of stir-frying, a pinch of oriental herbs, could be very tasty'.
But I don't believe we need to be afraid that if we see a Chinese person cycling past, he will soon be in your garden with his whole family nibbling on the Lilies, because Chinese cuisine is all about the bulb of the Lily.
The Lily Beetle with his hen
It is better to worry about the lily beetle, which will eat the lilies from your garden if you are not careful. But with a little good care, the lily beetle can also be dealt with quite well.
You can read how to do this under 'Flower bulb information' on the Fluwel website:
Another thing you might want to keep an eye on in the coming year is the snail.
Snail feeding
This photo was sent to me by Bart this week, asking who was nibbling on his Daffodils. At first I thought it was a caterpillar because Eric and I had just seen a caterpillar in the gnawed flowers of his Galanthus elwesii a few days earlier. It seemed much too cold for the snail, especially for the slug. But after a few days Bart told me that he had managed to catch a few snails red-handed at dusk. The pieces of the Golden Delicious that he had thrown in the garden for the birds also turned out to be full of snails.
Snail
Last year the snail caused a lot of damage so maybe it is wise to keep a close eye on this from the start. I can't call myself a snail psychologist, unfortunately I can't provide you with ready-made solutions. Maybe invite Chinese people into your garden, they might eat them for you, but if that doesn't work try something with beer, granules or other fabulous remedies.
Finally, something remarkable from my greenhouse, where many beautiful things are gradually emerging.
Amaryllis Aphrodite
One of the big eye-catchers was the Amaryllis Aphrodite . She has been around for a while but she still manages to surprise me. This shows that this beautiful flower is not named after the goddess of beauty for nothing.
Kind regards,
Carlos van der Veek
