November 9, 2019 Lily GrowingPanel L to R : Luminita Vollmer, TimZimmermann, David Whaley, Forrest

March 2020 | Volume 54 Number 1

NORTH STAR LILY NEWSThe Quarterly Publication of the North Star Lily SocietyNORTH STAR LILY NEWS

Apricot Trumpet grown by Des PaulsonPhotos by Peggy Nerdahl.

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North Star Lily NewsThe NS Lily News is created for thebenefit of the membership and in

support of our mission.

NSLS MissionOur mission is to promote the genusLilium in the Upper Midwest. We dothat by having public bulb sales,educational meetings for our

membership, sharing our knowledgeon line, and sponsoring an annual lily

show.

NSLS ExecutiveCommittee andDirectors

President—Susan Bloyer(952-926-7351)Past President—Peggy Nerdahl(952-479-7478)Vice-President —Rita Gindt-Marvig(952-239-4385)Treasurer—Barbara J. Ronningen(651-436-5881)Secretary—Carole Kulak(952-831-4847)Director—Tracey Nelson(608-205-9789)Director—Jennifer Knutson(218-963-0561)Director—OpenNewsletter Editor—Luminita Vollmer(612-790-1250)

Commitees andVolunteers

Membership - Bill BauerLibrarian - Forrest PeiperPublicity - Maureen McDonnellHospitality - Nancy RandWebmaster - Mary WickershamNominations - Peggy Nerdahl andForrest PeiperBulb Sales - Forrest Peiper

Volunteer Coordinator - OpenWebsite Producer - OpenHistorian - Open

2020 NSLS CalendarEvents take place in Bachman’s Heritage Room, 60th & Lyndale inMinneapolis or as stated.

Saturday, March 28 Educational Presentation - Art Evans12:30 Meet and Greet1:00 Business Meeting1:45-3pm Educational presentation

After the presentation all are welcome to go out to Houlihans at 66th andLyndale, dutch treat, with our speaker. Ask about it at the meeting. (We needto have the right number for reservations.)

Friday, April 24 Spring Bulb Wrap

Pre-registration required to volunteer. ContactPeggy Nerdahl at peggynerdahl@comcast.net

Saturday, April 25 Spring Bulb Sale9:00 am - 10:00 Members only pre-sale10:00 am - Open to the Public until sold out.

July 10 - 12 North Star Lily Society Annual lily show.Open to the public Saturday 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm and Sunday 10:00 am – 3:00pm. Member volunteers needed to greet at the show for about 2 hours.Members contact chair of committees to volunteer: Set-up, Clerking, etc. Allmembers help with cleanup on Sunday at the end of the show. Sign-up at theMarch 28th meeting, or at the Bulb Sale to volunteer at the July show.

July 8 - 12 NALS Lily Show, Ontario CanadaDetails to follow on the North American LilySociety web page www.lilies.org

Friday, Oct 23 Fall Bulb WrapSaurday, Oct 24 Fall Bulb SaleSaturday, Nov 14 Fall Educational Meeting

Minnesota Garden Events: http://crosspollination.weebly.com.Page 2

This IssueNSLS 2020 Calendar p. 2President's Message p. 3NSLS Spring Events p. 4-5Bulb SaleEducational MeetingArt in BloomMembership Renewal Reminder

Lily Quotes p. 4Lily Travels p. 6-7Lilies in New Zealand - Part 1

NSLS In Memoriam p. 8Ann RuehlingMarsha Hartle

NSLS History p. 9History of the NALS Seed ExchangeMinnesota Lilies p. 10Inspiring JoanKyley StormFranci Korine

2019 NSLS Treasurer's Report p. 11Nomination Committee Report p. 11Love of Lilies p. 11Lilies by Accident

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A new season of growing is nearing, the season when our

lilies will return. The North Star Lily Society is busy preparing

another year of great events and

opportunities for our

membership to realize the value

that lilies bring to our life. The

beauty and the diversity of

these flowers are what keeps us

going through the winter

months.

First, we have our

annual membership meeting

coming up. This is an

Educational Meeting, as well as

the Annual Membership Meeting, when we need to vote on new

board and executive committee members. PLEASE come to our

Saturday, March 28, 2020 meeting: vote for the new Board members

and hear our speaker Art Evans. A wonderful opportunity to learn

about rescue efforts on Dr. Robert Griesbach’s almost abandoned

garden. We will also vote for the name of our 2020 Lily Show this

summer, put your name ideas hat on and vote!

Second, we have our spring lily bulb sale scheduled for

Saturday, April 25, 2020 at Bachman’s 60th and Lyndale

location. Let everyone know about the sale, check out Facebook

Event about the sale, and come prepared to get that awesome bulb

you saw blooming last year but you didn’t have. Our list is not quite

finished, but you will see Asiatics and Orientals among the offering.

Forrest Peiper has given a preview inside this newsletter, check out

the wonderful pictures inside this issue! Come and bring a friend!

Mid-summer, July 10-12, 2020 the North Star Lily Society

will host the annual lily show. You too can participate by entering

some of your best blooms; enjoy the blooms of others and see

amazing lilies that only special events reveal to us all. This show is

local, at the Bachman’s location on Lyndale in Minneapolis; if you

feel more adventurous, travel to Burlington, Ontario and attend the

North American Lily Society Show the same weekend, where many

lily growers and lily enthusiasts come together as a group and show

their precious flowers. And don’t forget - garden tours will be

announced early in the spring; some of our members open up their

gardens for all of us to see.

I love Oriental lilies, but so little of my yard is sunny. I can

add it to the other boulevard that is already planted, but with the

sand and salt of it being a major roadway, I’m always afraid that the

bulbs won’t survive. I’ve decided it’s time to get rid of some of those

“ditch lilies” (orange daylilies) that grow so prolifically. I have some

Asiatic crosses that I was naughty enough not to have planted. If

they survived, I will plant them this year!

I’m going to start a hunt for the Minnesota native Lilium

philadelphicum (Wood Lily) since I am converting one of my

boulevards to native plants. I have a corner lot, so rather than mow

the weeds and occasional blade of grass on that particular

downward slope, I want to make it environmentally friendly by

capturing more of the rainwater that runs down that hill. If I can find

a native lily to add to the mix, how great would that be!

Sadly, life is taking a toll on our members; you will see in

the newsletter that we have lost two members recently: Marsha

Hartle, a long-time lily lover and grower in Minnesota, and one of our

current directors, the Volunteers coordinator Ann Ruehling. It’s a

reminder of our own mortality and “Be in the Present” habit. They

both will be missed!

I hope that all of you enjoy your spring; I’m holding out hopethat we will not get an April snowstorm this year. Enjoy the shortperiod of time when all of your plants start poking through theground! Start sowing lilies!

Susan Bloyer, President

Lilium philadelphicumPhoto by www.prairiemoon.com

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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGEby Susan Bloyer

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Bulb Sale - April 25, 2020

Spring is coming! This spring’s bulb sale will featureOrientals and many Asiatic and Oriental “pixies,” (short liliesfor pots or border.)

We have new varieties, more than usual: 35 ! Someof the new ones are especially striking. A wonderfulOriental, ‘Captain Tricolore,’ has three colors as the nameimplies: White, pink and yellow. ‘Scorpio’ is a new very darkred Oriental. New Oriental Asiatic (“OA”) varieties include‘Avalon Sunset,’ the best red and yellow OA I’ve seen, and‘Hotel California,’ melon with a darker center. If you haven’ttried an OA, you might want to try one this year. They looksimilar to Asiatics in the pictures but flower size is muchlarger!

The OA ‘Zeba’ is back also as is ‘Fusion,’ the redand yellow L. longiflorum cross. ‘Big Brother’ is also back.Classics ‘Scheherazade,’ ‘Leslie Woodriff,’ ‘Black Beauty’and ‘White Henryii’ are in the sale as well. Be sure to arriveat 9:00 AM for the best selection. Some varieties go quickly!

If you have requests for future bulb sales or are justseeking a certain variety, send us a note using the “ContactUs” menu option on the NSLS website. You can find itunder the “About Us” tab at the top. We will get back to youwith what we find for sources and whether it will likely be in afuture bulb sale.

See you at the sale!Forrest Peiper

Educational Meeting - March 28, 2020Art Evans, long time lily grower, hybridizer, lily

photographer and trainer of lily judges is our educational

speaker on March 28, 2020. His presentation "New blood,

almost lost - Dr. Robert Griesbach's abandoned garden"

starts at 11:45.

We will take our speaker out to Houlihan's at 66th

and Lyndale after the talk. If interested, ask to add your

name on the reservation list for the restaurant on the day of

the meeting. Please come and bring a friend.

2020 Spring Events with Lilies

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Art Evans in the garden with Gloriana and Sarabande.Photo submitted by Art Evans.

Lilium Fusion (Right) and White Henryi (FurtherRight) will be available at the spring bulb sale.Photos by Luminita Vollmer (R) and ForrestPeiper (FR.)

Lily QuotesBen Jonson ( c. 1572-1637)

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ART in Bloom - April 23-23, 2020

Phyllis Andrews - see picture above - and her trusty

sidekick, Kathryn Malody, have selected a stunning piece to

complement with a NSLS Lily floral design during this year's Art in

Bloom at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The piece is called

"Cypress on Jade Mountain" and is at the end of the Chinese gallery

on second floor. Come see their efforts as well as the designs of

many other familiar floral designers known to the North Star Lily

Society (Denese Erickson, Nancy Rand, and Sue Bagge, to name a

few.)

Kathryn Malody

North Star Lily Society Membership

Reminder to Renew

NSLS Membership - $10 for 2 years per

household are due in February. A new category

of membership - Lifetime Membership - $100

is now available as well. The memberships

include the following: 1. a member discount at

the annual bulb sales in April and October; 2. 4

NSLS News per year, 3. Two Educational

Meetings each year; 4. Yearly lily show. Renew

your membership ONLINE at

www.northstarlilysociety.com or fill out the

form included with this newsletter and mail to

Bill Bauer, our Membership Coordinator.

Lilies grown by Bev Winter in her garden. Detailsin the article by Peggy inside the newsletter.Photo by Peggy Nerdahl.

We Want Your Ideas!

North Star Lily Society 2020 LilyShow will be chaired by Rita Gindt-Marvig. Send your ideas for the2020 Annual Show title to Rita by

March 21. Her e-mail isritagmhort@gmail.com by March21. We will vote at the meeting onMarch 28th. The prize for the

winning entry is $25 in bulb bucks.

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The Story with Lilies in New ZealandBy Peggy Nerdhal

Rod and I had the opportunity to go to New Zealand overChristmas this past year. This was my 7th visit to New Zealandand Rod’s 5th. Fifty years ago, I was an AFS foreign exchangestudent to Central Southland College in Winton, New Zealandfor one year. I was their first foreign exchange student and Ilived on a sheep farm with the Peter and Connie Thomsonfamily. Some of you have met my one AFS sibling, MareeGentle. Maree and Mel visited us in 2018. Maree clerked atour NSLS lily show and took the floral design class.

We had the pleasure of a stop at Lane Spence’s home inLake Grassmere - in the picture below. Lane is amazing. Hisnumber of lilies is phenomenal. He grows every division of lily.He appreciates both diploid and tetraploid trumpets. He haslots of Conca d'Or hybrids. He has a couple favorite Asiaticsthat he has hybridized. He has so many of those two Asiaticsthat he would like to dig them up to sell or share, but he has notime.

Besides Robert Griesbach lilies, he is hybridizing withGriesbach daylilies as well. He hybridizes daffodils and irises.He stated that he has 20,000 daffodils. The picture belowshows the large lily bed he grows.

Lane also has a green- house with species lilies. He isknown for being able to grow 90 of the species lilies that growin the world. We saw a beautiful hybrid that he had made withL. taliense.

When we planned our trip, we had a conflict with the NewZealand Lily Society show. It was the same weekend asMaree and Mel’s son’s wedding which we were excited to goto. The South Canterbury Lily Society show was the weekendafter we planned to leave New Zealand to get back to work. Iasked Bev Winter, our new friend that we met in Boston atNALS, if she would arrange some lily garden tours since wecouldn’t attend any lily shows. The picture below shows Bev'slilies grown in pots along her driveway, and the NALS 86-32-1grown from seed - see the white and crimson lily picture below.

Besides her lovely garden in Rolleston, outside ofChristchurch, Bev arranged for me to see six other lilygardens. The garden tours far exceeded my expectations.

We drove up Bev’s driveway in Rolleston and were greetedby 4 rows of pots of lilies all along her driveway, as you see inthe picture above. She had run out of space in only 5 years ofgrowing lilies. She has raised beds in her yard, an irrigation

Page 6Continued on next pageLilies at Lane Spence's home

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system, a green house and so many seedlings. While westayed with her, she ordered another 50 packets of seedsfrom the NALS seed exchange. She loves the RobertGriesbach trumpets.

The first stop on our first day of lily garden tours was atthe home of Leoni Christey in Prebblton. Leoni is working onhybridizing the green trumpets - see the picture below. Shehad so many other beautiful lilies as you see in the secondpicture below.

Next stop was to visit Barry Stewart - picture belowshows him in his garden - in Rangiora. We met him at hishouse as he was coming home from selling lilies in pots at afarmer’s market. He had done very well that day. He growsregistered lilies, also has a huge

collection of Clematis and has done lots of mosaic tilecreations on his garden walls. The amazing part is that thegardens we've seen are not only lilies, but serious gardenswith a lot of interesting plants, trees, a large variety ofspecies and they are all the love of these gardeners.

The 3rd stop for the first day was at Martin Toon’s home inYaldhurst. I have never seen so many lilies. His green housewas as long as my house. He had trays of nepalenses andso many species lilies growing in his greenhouse, that Icouldn’t keep up with all the names. Outside, he had whathe called a “forest of ‘Conca d'Or’”.

Editor's Note: Due to the limited space in this issue of Lily News,

the second part of the trip will be continued in the next issue. All

pictures by Peggy Nerdahl.

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NSLS In Memoriam

Ann Ruehling passed away on Jan. 28, 2020. Seeingher obituary in the Minneapolis Star Tribune was a shock.Ann had been fighting breast cancer for four months, buthad kept that information private.

Ann had been a member of the NSLS Board ofDirectors for the past four years. She also coordinatedvolunteers for NSLS events. I first got to know Ann whenshe served as the liaison to the Bloomington Hilton duringthe 2014 NALS show. Her patience and expertise indealing with the hotel’s hospitality staff was invaluable. Shemanaged to get all dietary requests (and they werenumerous) taken care of, and was instrumental in gettingour bill reduced to a minimal level. Ann and her husband,Gary Emmers, had been members of NSLS since 2009.

I knew Ann as a good friend, and I will miss her. NSLSwill miss her cheerful demeanor and her many roles inmaking NSLS a society that gets things done. If you areinterested in a complete obituary, it can be found at http://www.startribune.com/obituaries/detail/0000346264/Memorials may be sent to the Angel Foundation(mnangel.org), which provides emergency financial grantassistance to breast cancer victims. NSLS has sent amemorial in her honor, and extends our sympathies to herhusband, Gary.

Barbara Ronningen

Marsha Hartle’s spirit joined Dean Hartle and Robert ‘Doc’ Gilman

to enjoy heaven’s garden on Jan. 30, 2020. My working relationship

with Marsha began as NSLS prepared for the 2005 NALS convention

held in the twin cities. That friendship continued to be nurtured as I

developed the MN hybridizer history which can be seen on the NSLS

website. Marsha willingly shared her knowledge and pictures of

Minnesota hybridizers who were no longer with NSLS.

Marsha was a gentle lady who’s driving force was influential in the

development and promotion of lilies and Hartle/Gilman Gardens.

Marsha, Dean and Doc spent hours working in the fields enjoying their

passion for lilies. I remember listening to Marsha and Doc as they had

animated exchanges of ideas while they inspected each lily they

walked by. I can still see Marsha standing on a hill overlooking the lily

fields while cleaning bulbs for distribution. Her techniques remain an

important part in how we prepare lilies at present.

Marsha, along with Doc, carried on Herb Hartle’s endeavors

hybridizing and introducing lilies for others to enjoy. Marsha, Doc

Gilman, and Dean were long standing members of NSLS and held

many leadership positions as NSLS developed and prospered.

Marsha’s roles in NSLS included serving as President and chair for

the 2005 NALS convention held in the twin cities.

I was honored to have Marsha as a friend and mentor. She will bemissed.

Barbara Sautner

Ann Ruehling Marsha Hartle

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The History of NALS Seed Exchangeby David Whaley

In November I was asked to speak at the North StarLily Society meeting about the North American Lily Societyseed exchange. I decided to add upon that for thenewsletter for those that missed it, and delve into thehistory and why there is a seed exchange.

I asked Stephanie Sims, Secretary of NALS if shecould find some history of when the seed exchange started.And from what she could find, The Seed Exchange startedin 1947, the same year NALS was started. Andcoincidentally enough, the first person to operate the seedexchange was a Mr. Wallace A. Rowell of Minneapolis.Which if you think back to 1947, life was a lot different.Having the seed chairperson in the Midwest puts the seedexchange in the middle of every member of NALS at thetime.

People have been exchanging seed for years, andthere was a lily society before NALS was started. But NALSwas about promoting the genus lilium. The seed exchangewas started for that purpose. People could find seed inone location from various hybridizers. In 1947, there wasno email and internet. So everything was made into a listand sent out to all members of NALS, without pictures ofcourse. I can just imagine the members waiting everydayfor that list to show up in their mailbox after the lilies havepassed and a good majority of the gardens are covered in

snow.

Today we have instant information. Then, they hadto wait weeks before their list and the check they wrotewas rewarded with seed in the mail. You couldn’t justemail the hybridizer about a certain cross, or even get apicture of it. Today we are very fortunate with wheretechnology has taken us.

But the seed exchange is a great place to getsomething for your gardens that you will not find in yourfriend's garden. Each and every seed grown is unique.

The NALS seed exchange can be found onLilies.org. Scroll down a little and you will see a tab for theseed exchange. Once there, you can find the present listsfor each division, along with the older seed from previousyears. On each seed packet is a number, 19-123 as anexample. The first number stands for the division the seedcomes from. The second number represents the year of theseed. While the last 3 digits stands for the accessionnumber. So the example would be an Asiatic from 2019seed list, and 123rd donation.

So I hope everyone reading this finds somethinguseful or interesting, and if you have any questionsregarding the seed exchange, feel free to email me atNhra20@gmail.com.

MEMBERSHIP: $10 / 2 years LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP: $100

The History of NALS Seed Exchangeby David Whaley

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Inspiring Joan - Kylee Storm - Franci Korine

Inspiring Joan is one of a kind. Thisintriguing lily was a cross with Morgan x

heavy spotted orange seedling X Dots

and Dashs.

This lily has been evaluated the last few

years and won 1st place as a seedling at

last summer's North Star lily show. I was

going to wait to register this lily in late

summer of 2020, but a close Edina

garden club member suddenly passed

after dealing with cancer for years. Joan was an elementary school

teacher and retired early from complications of cancer recurring.

I wrote this lily article describing Joan at her funeral as follows.

This lily is known for its straight lines and dots. Joan was known for

being a teacher. Lines in lilies are rare to find. Joan was truly one of a

kind. With her perfection, also came love and respect towards others.

The bright Orange in the flower represents the brightness of the

morning as well as Joan. ‘Inspiring Joan’ also shows the evening

glow that is shown in her heart. This lily was registered with the

United Kingdom in the fall of 2019 and will be added in the near

future at Arnesons for viewing. God’s blessings to Joan for the

countless hours in volunteering and helping others.

Inspiring Joan will be at the NSLS Fall bulb sale in a silent auction

and also auctioned off at the 2021 NALS lily show in Wisconsin.

Kylee Storm was one of my seedlings that I brought to the NALS

lily show held in Bloomington in 2014. It won the Hornbeck award for

the best seedling. I believe this is the first pollenless lily to receive

such an award. The cross came from Crimson Noble crossed with

one of my pollenless reds. A bulb will be for sale at the NSLS Fall

bulb sale in the silent auction, and also in the auction at the 2021

North American Lily Society show in Wisconsin.

The name Kylee comes from my step daughter Taylor who was

killed 10 years ago in a lightning strike. Taylor said at the time, if she

had kids the names would be Hailey and Kylee. Hailey Rain was the

last one I introduced a few years back. Kylee Storm lily was officially

registered at the Royal Horticultural society November 2019.

Franci Korine is a lily that I developed years back when FranciNelson was living. I brought this lily to a North Star lily show the last

year Franci attended before she died. She loved this lily and wanted

one, but I only had one at the time.

Franci was very dedicated to the North Star Lily Society. Over the

years I was able to grow more bulbs and decided to register this lily in

honor of Franci. Franci Korine was a cross of Sweet Surrender with

one of my pollenless yellow lilies.Franci Korine was officially registered last fall with the Royal

Horticultural Society in the United Kingdom. This lily will be on thesilent auction at the North Star lily fall bulb sale. It also will be in theauction at the 2021 North American lily show that will be held inWisconsin.

Tim Zimermmann with the NSLS award for KyleeStorm (Top of page and Bottom Middle); InspiringJoan (far Left), and Franci Korine (Right).Photos by Tim Zimmermann.

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Above: Black Eyed Cindy lily.Photo by J McCombie of fineartamerica.

Treasurer's Report - FY 2019Prepared by Barbara Ronningen

Lilies by AccidentBy Barbara Sautner

The day began with the anticipation of going to Norm Baker’s Northstar

Daylilies. I always loved wandering through the plantings of daylilies to pick just

the right one to take home. That particular day, John came rushing up to tell me

about a beautiful flower he had discovered in the vast display of daylilies. We

rushed over so he could show me what he had found. There it stood, a burst of

color towering above all the daylilies that surrounded it, Black Eyed Cindy. Our

love of lilies and the search for more began! We asked Norm where we could

get it and he either didn’t remember or wanted to keep it a secret, but he had no

information for us. I couldn’t let it stop at that, I needed to know how I could get it

for my garden. I was new to using the internet at that time, but I thought I’d give it

a shot. I was surprised at how soon I got a reply, and to my amazement, Black

Eyed Cindy was hybridized by a couple from Minnesota! Needless to say, that

day I was on the phone to Ruth and Hugh Cocker to find out if I could buy one. I

think that week Black Eyed Cindy found a home in my garden!

Nomination Committee Report2020 NSLS Open Positions

Peggy Nerdahl and Forrest Peiper are thenominating committee for 2020. The recommendedofficers and directors are shown below.

The president, vice president and treasurerincumbents will be serving the second year of theirtwo-year terms. Denise Haldorson is recommendedfor Secretary for a two-year term expiring in 2022.Forrest Peiper is recommended for Director with athree -year term expiring in 2023 and DavidAlbrecht is recommended for Director for a one yearterm expiring in 2021.

The Complete list of officers and directors isshown below:

President Susan BloyerVice-President Rita Gindt - MarvigSecretary Denise Haldorson

(recommended)Treasurer Barbara RonningenPast President Peggy NerdahlDirector, Term exp. 2023 Forrest Peiper

(recommended)Director, Term exp. 2022 Tracey NelsonDirector, Term exp. 2021 David Albrecht

(recommended)Newsletter Editor Luminita Vollmer

Treasurer's Report - FY 2019Prepared by Barbara Ronningen

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Some of the lilies available at the Spring Bulb Sale. Clockwise from Left: Stracciatella Event (courtesy Lily Nook) Supernova(courtesy Lily Garden), Purple Marble (courtesy Lily Nook) Gaucho (courtesy Lily Garden),Purple Dream (courtesy Lily Nook), Captain Tricolore (courtesy Lily Garden)

North Star Lily Societywww.northstarlilysociety.com