Gilding the Lily

Despite nearly all of the lilies we grow originating from Asiatic countries or North America, these are plants that seem to be indelibly associated with English gardens. Think of John Singer Sargent’s evocative , a painting set in a twilit Cotswold garden, glowing Chinese lanterns bobbing between the tall stems of milky white lily flowers, their scent almost discernible from the canvas. Gertrude Jekyll’s 1903 book devoted to the genus, , cemented their place in the gardening firmament, and their expansion into the thousands of species and cultivars available today only confirms their enduring popularity. But with so many to choose from, how do you