Last year, I purchased a set of 5 lilies from Brent and Becky's Bulbs as Asiatic Lily Satin Slippers but when they bloomed, they were not Satin Slippers. They turned out to be the new Asiatic Tet intro from Dr. Robert Griesbach called Pearl Jessica identified from The Lily Nook's catalog last year. They have nicely shaped and slightly reflexed flowers. The coloration is a pretty shade of dusty pink with light yellow stripe at the center of the petals and with a few spots near the throat. To me these are great and vigorous lilies worthy to be grown in anybody's garden.
Pearl Jessica close-up....
Another close-up pic of Pearl Jessica.
Pearl Jessica opening up.....
Pearl Jessica fully open.....
Pearl Jessica's reverse.....
A trio of Pearl Jessica.....
This year, when Faraway Flowers offered The Pearl Collection Lilies, I placed my order right away. The collection is consist of 4 lilies namely Pearl Jennifer, Pearl Stacy, Pearl Justine and Pearl Lorraine. Of course I have to have the lily named after the great master himself, OT(Oriental Trumpet)Lily Robert Griesbach.
I was curious about these tet Asiatics, I needed some more information. The web does not have much except that they were named after Dr. Griesbach's granddaughters and I got it from H. W. Hyde and Son's website from the UK which happened to be Faraway Flowers' supplier. I emailed Ramona Titus of Faraway Flowers asking her if she knew how many of the Pearl Series Lilies are out in the market but she doesn't know how many went into commercial production and that if I find any more info about them, she want me to let her know.
After my lily lecture last January, I asked my Lily Society President, Mr. Woody Imberman if he knew where I can contact Dr. Griesbach. He does and he happily gave me Dr. Griesbach's address. I sent him a snail mail and got a reply yesterday.
Dr. Griesbach's letter.....
I sent him the above pictures of Pearl Jessica for him to confirm the ID, yes indeed, it is Pearl Jessica.
According to Dr. Griesbach, the Pearl Series is consist of 5 cultivars named after his 5 granddaughters. These cultivars were selected by Mr. Pieter Groot of Holland.
I have shared the information I got to Ramona Titus and right now there are discrepancies on the names of the 3 cultivars that I can not disclose as of this time writing this blog.
Update: 2.21.10
Since Ramona Titus is done with her research and has been in contact with Dr. Griesbach, I think it is safe for me to add on to this story. What I meant is that I don't want to hurt anybody or any business hence withholding some of the information when I first written this post.
This is what Dr. Griesbach wrote:
"The Pearl Series cultivars named after my granddaughters is consist of:
1. Pearl Stacie-actually this was meant to be Pearl Gracie
2. Pearl Justine-the Lily Nook list this as Pearl Justien.
3. Pearl Jennifer
4. Pearl Carolina-my granddaughter Caroline
5. Pearl Jessica
You indicate that Faraway Flowers also list Pearl Lorraine, apparently, the Pearl Series extends beyond lilies named after my 5 granddaughters."
You can read more information about these lilies on Ramona Titus's Blog.
Faraway Flowers Blog
2 comments:
What a fascinating story. I'm glad I've found your garden blog because it is right up my alley. I'm not a lily addict, but I do appreciate the two Oriental lilies I have in my garden. They've become nice conversation pieces.
There is lot more to add to this story. I will update this post in probably two weeks time.
Oriental lilies look nice specially when they are mature. Having numerous blooms in one stalk is a sight to see.
I want to take this oppotunity to thank you for all your help. I appreciate it.
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