Welcome to The Lily Garden!

A woman's work is never done! Judith does more than hybridize new lilies; she also grows, feeds, waters, and sprays the crop, currently 8 acres of lilies with 1200 field numbers to track. In spring and fall, she also "mans" the planter and drives the digger. As the lilies flower, she is busy photographing the lilies, taking notes, and making crosses!

I began hybridizing lilies over thirty years ago, and this September we’ll be digging the 23rd crop at Columbia-Platte Lilies, Inc. Our goal is still the same: to provide you with beautiful, reliable, garden lilies! We are delighted to share our catalog with you this year, full of the best garden lilies available anywhere, with lilies selected to please every palate!

Here you will find varieties unavailable anywhere else, our own Columbia-Platte hybrids that span the spectrum of flower size, color, plant height, shape and form. (Note: indicates our own Columbia-Platte Lilies introductions, born and bred on our farm.) All our offerings have been tested and selected specifically with the garden in mind–our lilies are strong, persistent, disease-resistant, and above all, beautiful! And because we grow them all ourselves, here on our own farm, we absolutely guarantee every bulb to grow and bloom. We photograph all our lilies in the field to show you how they really look.

The Asiatics bloom the earliest, beginning in early June with a vast array of colors; the Trumpets and Aurelians come next, perfuming the garden in July; “Orienpet” hybrids blossom through July and into August; and the Orientals provide a grand finale in late July and August with their large, fragrant blooms.
Hardy lily bulbs will return year after year with only the simplest maintenance. (See Growing Lilies for more information) Each year you can expect more and more flowers to grace your garden with color, longevity, fragrance, and beautiful form. We hope you enjoy looking through our own lily garden, and that you will choose to add our fine plants to your garden, as well. Enjoy the lilies!

‘Silk Road’ is our most popular lily, shown here with reluctant “cover model,” Catherine van der Salm. Catherine creates our [print] catalog each year, working to capture the nature of each lily accurately.

Under beautiful, mature stems like these are the bulbs we will harvest and ship in the fall!