Some of these lilies will not be available for sale for five or six years. Personal colour preferences combined with scent variations will inspire Gratrix to pollinate one lily with another. He stores lily pollen in labeled envelopes and using a short pipe cleaner, transfers pollen from one envelope onto the stigma of another lily. It takes at least four years to evaluate the form of a plant. Gratrix aims to develop lilies resistant to disease.
Field testing is an important part of the business.
The hybrid lilies will be sold at first, as numbered hybrids, until a name is approved by the Royal Horticultural Society, the international body for regulating lilies. The other 250 are named varieties not yet in sufficient quantity to sell. On our visit some 60 varieties were available for sale including several double blossoms, a special attraction. For a complete sensory experience, visit Gratrix Garden Lilies, open daily 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. July 1 to Oct. 30. You will find it on Simcoe Rd.