ARE WE RUNNING OUT OF TIME TO SAVE THE SPECIES?

I am by no means a professional in horticulture. Going to collage is an option. AS FOR ONE IN MY GOLDEN YEARS, THE DEGREE IS RATHER CHEEP TO ATTEND THE UNIVERSITY… Who knows perhaps winter classes would do me some good.

 I am a gardener, as you... and I am obsessed with Lilium and their relatives. We all have our favorites... I am one that studies lilies. The dry freshly plucked capsules of literally hundreds of siblings, awaiting their turn to.... DO I DARE SAY GESTATE????  Growing these seeds that are within the palm of my hand, germinating that seed, through stages of all of it's maturity. GESTATION AND SPROUTING... EMERGING , BIRTHING. MATURING, SEXUAL MATURITY, RIPENING AND REPRODUCING. 

There

The studio was filled with the rich odour of rose, and when the light spring seasonal wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the June martagon lilies, mingled with the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.

She
In the furthest far corner of the fragrant room, was a well used, worn secretary. Lace protected the aged carvings that were chiseled deep within the grain. A gilded framed portrait, was displayed of a young woman of casual beauty, perhaps a distant relative, a relation, and in front of it, some little distance away, was sitting, a glass vessel. One would almost believe that it was the mingled fragrances that waft the room. Looking closer, you will find that it is to the rim of precious commodities, once upon a time they were traded for food, but today, they shall take ground, of once again becoming the marvels of a new form of the wild collections that were carefully gathered, protected and brought for safe keeping. She whispers, “Thank you,” out loud in the room……….

IS—– Taking the field notebook that perhaps by now is decades old over the test of past histories, she draws closely, an ink well that is thick and condensed close by, a quill is picked up. Then it begins. The beginning that will probably have no ending— at least for her till her last breath that is exhaled. She writes and begins her story of the tiny little seed. The seed of hope and most importantly the preservation.

• Trying to obtain the most intimate of knowledge that I feel, is not always available to those that study the genetics under the scope of a micro glass. I have been exploring and dare say, witnessing the birth of a seed and the beginning of life. Seeing it is one thing. Watching it emerge from a seed as a small thread like hair. But… have you ever smelled it? How does one explain the smell of hand picked medium, pure water and the smell of a ripe seed. The smell is of iron and bitters. Perhaps that is the protective coating? The combinations of gravel, sand, and stone?

 I have witnessed my flowers facing to the east in the morning and droop to the west in the afternoon shade. I witness the bees favorites and the FUZZY WUZZY buds that are plump and scratchy. I capture the length of the distance between each tepal and the ripening of the ovum when it is ready for artificial insemination. I see the color of the stem and the patterns of the foliage. I have seen the stem and flowers shake, for a moment reaching and bending to glimpse at the ray of dawn in a new day. 

What shall I discover? Perhaps all of my observations are documented before me. That is good, but maybe …. just maybe something was missed and was waiting for me….

This journal of detailed notes and observations are mine, I plan on publishing and sharing my findings along with books and pages of old journals and publications from my own personal collections. They should be archived anyway. These journals were ones that were published publicly from Societies of long ago to their paying members. Most are no longer active society anymore. Most newsletter are hard to find and are priceless to the community of the study of Lilium. Are the lost? Stuck in a closet? Why are they not scanned or available anywhere? This is very concerning . These chapters will give us a vision of what they saw, what happened and what went well or not. Notably, within most of the articles, time again and agin, the authors wants their stories to be shared. Making the statement within the article to go out and share this knowledge. They don’t want it to be locked up in a box. The history behind these publications were to educate and tell everyone so we can all learn from their mistakes as well as success. It gives us a vision of what we can do better, because… to be honest…. I think, that the preservation of Lilium is at a all time CRISIS OF THREATENED OR NEAR THREATENED SPECIES for many all across the world. Something should be done…. Something needs to be done. I want to protect the seeds. I want to listen to the marvelous researchers , the tested gardeners with tips to the trade, from the past to connect the future of liliumspeciesandtheirrelatives

THE PROMISE OF A SEED…. Here’s to our future generation…….