Lilium (x) longiflorum Sweet Valley - Easter Lily

The 'Sweet Valley' hybrid lily (Lilium longiflorum x Asian) offers a very vibrant flowering display with its large flowers in warm tones combining yellow and deep burgundy. Perfect for brightening up borders and bouquets, this unscented lily is appreciated for its resilience and ease of cultivation, both in the garden and in pots. It is also an excellent cut flower, more long-lasting than classic Asian lilies. And its colour scheme is truly eye-catching.

The 'Sweet Valley' Lily is a Dutch horticultural creation by Vletter en den Haan Beheer BV dating back to 2018. It is a bulbous plant with deciduous vegetation from the lily family. It belongs to a group of recent hybrids derived from Asian species with large flowers such as Lilium longiflorum and L. formosanum, as well as much hardier cultivars. These varieties are highly sought after in floristry, as their large, brightly coloured flowers are very long-lasting in vases.

This 'Sweet Valley' cultivar produces flowers in July that are 12 cm long and 16 cm in diameter, with a base colour of a very warm yellow, heavily speckled with "smoked paprika", an intermediate shade between burgundy and violet purple. At the centre of each flower, there are yellow stamens with mahogany anthers. The lanceolate green leaves measure 22 cm long by 2 cm wide. The stem is sturdy, green in colour, and bears up to six upward-facing flowers. Depending on the bulb size and growing conditions, the vegetation reaches a height of 1.15 m to 1.65 m. It will spread over time, with the bulbs producing numerous bulblets through vegetative propagation. This deciduous vegetation dries up in autumn, while the bulb goes into dormancy. The bulbs are reserve organs with fleshy, overlapping scales.

The LA hybrid lily 'Sweet Valley' blooms after 12 to 13 weeks of cultivation. The flowering date can be advanced by planting the bulbs in pots early in the season, in a conservatory or a temperate room. The soil they are planted in should remain moist throughout the growth and flowering period.

In the garden, you can pair 'Sweet Valley' with yellow, orange, or purple lilies or small bushes like Caryopteris 'Sterling Silver', bushy potentillas in matching colours, or even with small ground cover roses. Winter protection in the form of a thick mulch is not unnecessary in very cold regions. Lilies prefer shade at their base, and these bushes will help prevent the stems from bending in the wind. The 'Sweet Valley' lily will look stunning in borders, containers, and of course, in a bouquet.