Jewell
 Regular Plants Contributor
Puget Sound Region of the Pacific NW (Washington State, US)
Posts: 1590
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:13 pm Post subject: Why do my Lilium 'Stargazer' always change color? |
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Over the years I have bought Stargazer lilies only after a time to have them change from pink to white. (This has happened with three different batches of bulbs over about 15 years  ) At first I always grow them in planters to help them gain bulb size and a few years later they are placed into the ground. (they actually change color in the pots and maintain the white (with pink blush) in the ground. The plants get tall (over 5 feet) and look healthy. I'd just like to have the pink coloring, instead I keep adding to the white display. 
( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )
( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )
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~Jewell
If a you have but two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one to sustain your life, and a flower with the other to give you a reason to live. ~Chinese Proverb
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daisybeans
annapolis md
Posts: 3675
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| Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 12:53 am Post subject: |
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Wow... both are pretty, but I can see why you would love to keep that pink color... That is gorgeous....
Of course, I have no answer for you... but had to compliment that beautiful bloom.
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"Once the relation between poetry and the soil is well established in the mind, all growing things are endowed with more than material beauty." -Elizabeth Lawrence
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kaseylib
Wisconsin
Posts: 1084
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| Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 1:06 am Post subject: |
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That's a first for me...do the white ones smell as good???
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toni
Administrator
Plants Moderator
Regular Plants Contributor
North Texas, Zone 8a
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| Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 1:28 am Post subject: |
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Stargazer lilies are hybrids created in 1978 by a breeder in California. To create the lily there had to be a male and female and there is a good chance that one of the parents was white and the other was red in order to get the pink Stargazer.
The white lily probably was the stronger genetically and has slowly reverted the hybrid to it's color.
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Jewell
Regular Plants Contributor
Puget Sound Region of the Pacific NW (Washington State, US)
Posts: 1590
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| Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 1:40 am Post subject: |
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Does anyone else have problems with their original bulbs changing 
Thanks Toni, I would never have thought about the genetic strength of one parent over another. Maybe why some of us go grey or bald with age and some keep our hair color longer? Is there flower coloring 
The funny thing about these lilies is they don't seem to reproduce. I have exactly the same number of bulbs as I started with only larger bulbs. Would taking scales when the bulb is young produce white or pink lilies? So many questions and so little time.
Yes Kaseylib, they do smell wonderful in the white cast (the flowers do get a slight pink tinge as the flower ages at least with the younger bulbs on four foot stalks).
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~Jewell
If a you have but two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one to sustain your life, and a flower with the other to give you a reason to live. ~Chinese Proverb
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Droopy
Regular Plants Contributor
Western Norway
Posts: 9272
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| Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 9:05 am Post subject: |
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Huh, that's funny.  I've never experienced that, and I've had Stargazers (and Journey's Ends) growing for more than five years. I think Toni's explanation sounds credible. Your pinkish revert looks gorgeous though.
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eileen
Forum Moderator
Scotland
Posts: 18013
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| Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 9:22 am Post subject: |
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This has happened with some of my stargazers too Jewell. I now have white ones with lemon yellow centres and white ones with a pale pink in them. One started out like your pink ones and the other was a yellow. Both have a wonderful scent but I miss the origional colours.
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jakrum421
Wisconsin
Posts: 115
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| Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 3:21 pm Post subject: |
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Toni, that is interesting about the breeder creating them in 1978. My mom had large pink and white lilies in her wedding bouquet in 1953 and said that they were her favorite flowers. I always thought that they were stargazers, but maybe they were rubrums? I even planted some stargazers in my garden in honor of her. I guess I now have an excuse to plant some more lilies, rubrums this time.
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glendann
Texas
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| Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 3:30 pm Post subject: |
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Those are gorgeous blooms.
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Jewell
Regular Plants Contributor
Puget Sound Region of the Pacific NW (Washington State, US)
Posts: 1590
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| Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 3:35 pm Post subject: |
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Eileen, nice to know that it seems to be a more common occurance. Jackrum now you have me looking at rubrums lilies  , and they multiple )  . Thanks Glendann. I do like them too.
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~Jewell
If a you have but two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one to sustain your life, and a flower with the other to give you a reason to live. ~Chinese Proverb
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Jewell
Regular Plants Contributor
Puget Sound Region of the Pacific NW (Washington State, US)
Posts: 1590
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| Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 11:55 pm Post subject: |
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My lilies were just beginning to flower when I first did this post. I have since noticed that some of the originals (depending on the batch) have either a outside turning to overall light pink hue or a yellow/chartruese center vein. Neither has the overwhelming fragrance of the new batch of Stargazers that I can smell from twenty feet away. I am definitely going to look into purchasing the rubrums next year. They are gorgous.
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~Jewell
If a you have but two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one to sustain your life, and a flower with the other to give you a reason to live. ~Chinese Proverb
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