The plant detective

Published on Monday 22 December 2008 10:15

HERE'S a mythical sounding quest for you – hunt for Minos, Adonis, Odysseus and Pandora. It sounds like a task out of a Homer epic. However, for Peter Gill, glasshouse and field services manager at the Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI) in Dundee, seeking out these Greek legends doesn't require him to slay gorgons, but does demand a lot of (comparatively dull) detective work.

These four names are the missing exotic lilies in a collection developed by the former deputy director of the SCRI, the late Dr Chris North (at the time, his job primarily involved research into something quite different – brassicas, or cabbages).

Since cultivating these lilies was a side project for North, they were not archived by the SCRI. Instead, the seedlings were given away, casually, to friends and colleagues and the collection was gradually dispersed.

"He was head of plant breeding here and became deputy director of this organisation," explains Gill. "The lilies programme was a bit of a sideline for him, which he worked on from 1966 until 1977. Eventually, two series of bulbs were produced – the Greek collection, of which four are still missing, and also a range called the Ladies, which were named after Chris's female relatives – there's a Marie (his wife) in there, and, revealing his Welsh heritage, a Bronwyn."

The entire series of North lilies (or Mylnefield lilies, as they were known back then) were relatively forgotten, at least by the busy SCRI staff. However, that changed with the arrival of a new director, Professor Peter Gregory, who decided it would be a great idea to bring the collection home.

As the person given the tricky task of locating them, Gill explains: "Eventually, we want to find all of the North lilies, to preserve the collection that was started at SCRI, and also to have a display at our site here in Invergowrie."

Over the last year or so, although Gill has managed to track down all the Ladies and most of the Greek series, the aforementioned four still elude him. It's ironic that many of the missing plants may be in a local person's back garden, perhaps with an owner who is unaware of their prominence. After all, as Gill says: "The average amateur gardener doesn't tend to label their plants." At least the varieties he has succeeded in finding hadn't strayed too far over the last couple of decades – in fact, most of them were growing in the gardens of former employees, friends or associates of Dr North.

"We've already been given some from Peter Waister, who was a friend of North, and another associate of his called Dr Donald MacKerron. The latter was a bit more scientific about keeping his lilies (rather than just bunging them in his garden, like we did), so he recently gifted us his Achilles, Orestes and Phoebus varieties. Also, a lady called Kirstie McManus from the Borders sold us a few – she supplies bulbs from the Ladies series to a nursery called Edrom in Eyemouth. That place is one of the only retail outlets I know for them."

When these lilies were developed, there were very few opportunities to purchase them. Popular now, thanks to our current taste for the exotic, in the 1970s they were less commercially viable. As Gill points out, this could be down to the fact that they were never designed to be stuck in vases and were strictly outdoor plants. "Maybe lilies weren't that interesting as garden flowers then – when people did want them it was as cut flowers," he explains. That was their loss, he says, as the North lilies look beautiful in any garden, with their long leafy stems and gently curling petals – they're exotic and far from funereal. If you want to get a glimpse of them in-situ, visit Branklyn Gardens in Perth or Wisley RHS Garden in Surrey, both of which have a few varieties.

When Dr North created these plants, he crossed a pink-scented lily from Yunnan in China, Lilium lankongense, with other Asiatic species. The resulting hybrids have flowers in a wide range of colours, with each bloom being held on a long, poker-straight stalk. All are slightly scented, and the plants are gorgeously delicate to look at, despite the fact that they've been bred to withstand grotty Scottish weather and viruses, and to stand upright like sentries, without needing to be staked.

"They're all spectacular in their own way – some are larger, while others have heads that turn skywards," says Gill. "One of the things that North was really keen to do, was to bring pink into the colour scheme – you don't normally find that as a lily colour."

The result was a collection featuring some rose-coloured versions, and others with hues ranging from gold, red, orange and yellow to speckled ivory. Overall, they add up to a precious legacy from Dr North – or they will do, once they've been rescued and rehabilitated. For now, it's nose to the grindstone for Gill.

"I thought it would be a comparatively easy task to find his lilies, but was surprised when it didn't turn out to be quite as simple as I thought. I've been hunting for them for about a year, and have progressively found 18 named ones and some seedlings," he says. "However, I'm certain that I'm not going to be beaten by this – I know for sure that the final four are out there somewhere!" sm

&#149 If you know where any of the North lilies are, contact Lorraine Wakefield at SCRI, tel: [phone], e-mail [e-mail] or visit www.scri.ac.ukn For a host of exciting new plant products, visit www.vanmeuwen.com/scotsman