Top 10 Oriental Lilies Bulb and Bloom's favorite Oriental Lilies for hardiness, garden performance, and beauty. We all have our favorites for different reasons such as ease of growth, hardiness, performance or just plain beauty but some Oriental Lilies are in a a class all their own. They may be the garden standbys we’ve loved all our lives or a newcomer that’s received rave reviews from sellers and growers alike. Here’s our top ten list of the stars of the Oriental Lily runway.

1. Madonna Lily
Wayside Gardens singles it out as ancient, from Biblical times. An Early summer bloom of up to 15 flowers on 4-6 ft. stems with brilliant golden stamens in the heart of pure white lilies.

2. Casablanca
Most popular with Wedding decorators. Renown for the perfume that makes Oriental Lilies famous. Florists and gardeners agree it’s the symbol of perfection.

3. Miss Lucy
First double-flowered Oriental Lily. Its complex 6-7 inch blossom of 18 ruffled petals flush from pale green to pale pink and white. Slight freckles and a wax like presence. Best attributes: pollen free (no bouquet messiness) blooms from summer to early Fall, cold hardy, a must grow at Park Seed, pest resistant but attracts butterflies.

4. Black Beauty
Suprising Turks-cap form introduced in 1957. Rasberry with silvery edging on its re-curving petals.

5. L. Pumilum Coral Lily
A grow- anywhere, 2 to 3", red- orange Oriental Lily that’s been in gardens since 1844. Lily known for self-seeding and early summer loveliness. Also called Siberian Lily.

6. Golden Sunburst
Old House Gardens, which sells heirlooms, signals this to be virtually indestructable. This is not Golden Splendor but a 1956 arrival; vigorous, sun yellow with arching curved-back petals.

7. Muscadet
Charming 2 1/12 ft dwarf Oriental Lilly fills the border front.Try as an architectural pot plant for your patio. Blue-white, not cream, blossoms cheered with pink Enormous 6 in. across blooms.

8. Leslie Woodriff
New subdivision in Hybrids ORIENTPET. Named after its breeder, Leslie Woodriff. From Henryi and Scheherazade, a 6-8ft. giant with 8in. white and rose blooms. Very fragrant with a remarkable tendancy to re-bloom once or twice a season.

9. Starfighter
Just like her sister Stargazer, but with a sharper contrasting ribbon of white around the crimson-pink and freckled petals. Pefect for summer weddings for its modern looks and fragrant appeal.

10. Trumphator
Bulb suppliers know this is one of the most popular Oriental Lilies by their volume sales. It is vigorous and dependable in its supply of spectacular white and maroon mid-summer flowers. Another hybrid ORIENTPET.

The variety and habit of this short list illustrates how adaptible Oriental Lilies can be to any gardener’s particular needs. A dramatic display of towering blooms among mid-sized borders or against the greenery of shrubs and bushes adds depth, height and color. A patio awash in fragrance from early summer thru fall with strategically planted and placed flower pots is unforgettable. Even one bulb that blooms year after year can bring that element of surprise and magic that gardeners treasure so.

We have seen Oriental Lilies thriving in less than perfect conditions because they are amazingly hardy, but given the recommended care which concerns planting depth, soil condition and water enough to keep the bulbs moist before, during and after bloom, they repay our trouble with great generosity.

Spring is planting time for Oriental Lilies so try some of our stars.