Lily show adds summer feel

BOLD and beautiful lilies brought a colourful summer feel to Dunedin’s Forbury Park Raceway at the weekend.

A couple of hundred florets and at least 50 stems on display at the annual Otago Lily Society show on Saturday was proof enough that while many in the South bemoaned a wet, cold summer so far, southern gardeners were growing all kinds of the beloved herbaceous flowering plants this year, society president Louise Ardley said.

While she grew hundreds of lilies at her Dunedin home, many gardeners grew a variety of flowers at home with lilies simply a part of the mix, Miss Ardley said.

And the friendly, noncompetitive lily society was the best place to learn how to grow the popular flower, she said.

She was a 20year member of the lily society, Miss Ardley said.

The members judged this year’s show.

Despite less than a perfect summer for the flowers, which could begin to bloom as early as November, this year’s entries were excellent, she said.

PHOTO: GERARD O’BRIEN Lily lovers . . . Admiring a lily at the Otago Lily Society show at Forbury Park Raceway on Saturday are (from left) society secretary Margaret Dodds, president Louise Ardley and treasurer Margaret Matthews, all of Dunedin, and society member Des Paulson, of Timaru. Below: 1. Candy Club; 2. White Triumph; 3. Orienpet; 4. Henryii via Citronella.