orange insanity

Kenneth Hixson khixson@nu-world.com
Fri, 23 Jan 2004 19:33:36 PST
Jim:
>John, you chose your words carefully in saying that Enchantment was
>introduced in the early 1950's. I remember reading somewhere that
>Enchantment was raised in 1938. 
	My own memory is that it was introduced in 1949, and thus gave
the name to the "Mid Century Hybrids" group, of which it was the first.
If so, 1938 would be a reasonable date for the original cross, or the
year the seed was sown.  I haven't found anything yet to substantiate
that date however.  Does it really matter?

>the answer, as you yourself have indicated, is that they are different
>oranges. 
	Respectfully, I think you missed the point.  I mentioned 
Enchantment because John Bryan had just mentioned it, but there are
numerous other orange asiatics, in varying shades, and I've never gotten
enthused about them.  Some of the shades of orange are nearly identical
to oranges found in seedlings of trumpet/L. henryi hybrids, which I
do like.  FWIW, I also bought Destiny, lemon yellow, and Prosperity, a
soft near gold, at the same time as Enchantment, and still like them,
although they've long gone to lily heaven.  If I saw Destiny for sale,
I'd probably buy it again, yet it is a similiar plant with flowers of
-more-or-less-similiar shape and poise as Enchantment.

>Apparently the
>orange color in hybrid trumpets comes from Lilium henryi. 
	Only in part.  The orange of L. henryi is itself soft and muddied,
although some of the L. henryi and L. rosthornii now being introduced
from China are glossy.  The first hybrids (White Henryi, Bright Star) were 
with white trumpets, but the real breakthrough came when lilies like 
Golden Splendor were used, and some of the results "has the glossy, sparkling 
quality which some orange Asiatic hybrid lilies have."
	Some of the modern orange aurelians are every bit as strident and
glaring in color as asiatics, yet they evoke a different feeling.


>But here I think is the real reason, and it's been mentioned in these
>threads recently: Hemerocallis fulva. Its ubiquity has made it a force to
>be considered. 
	To my knowledge, I've never seen H. fulva, so that isn't the
reason.  Anyway, modern hemerocallis are never orange, they are "melon",
though whether Honeydew or Watermelon, or Yellow Baby Watermelon, is
never mentioned.
	Stella d Oro, now, that I've seen. Everywhere, lately.
Diane, do you divide your Stellas?  They do multiply so quickly that they
need dividing if they are to flower well.

>Most people seem
>to want noise and excitement at the beginning of their gardening
>experience. As sophistication (or whatever it is) grows, they eschew
>orange. 
	I didn't. I wanted red--ruby red, blood red, the red that glows when 
the sun shines through it.  Orange is fine. Zauschneria, California fuchsia,
just doesn't look the same in white or pink, but orange asiatics still
do not evoke pleasure.  Of course, I don't claim to be sophisticated.
	Ken


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