Lilybulb.com - by B&D Lilies®
First in Garden Lilies... Since 1978Kon-Tiki - J. Mak Oriental Hybrid™
Lily Bulb Description
Spicy fragrance, 3 to 4 Feet. Mid / Late July flowering.
I received the book 'Kon-Tiki' back in 1962 for my 12th birthday. I found it fascinating, reading it several times. I don't think it was so much the actual voyage from Peru to Polynesia that garnered my attention, but rather, it was an admiration for Thor Heyerdahl and how he followed through on his belief in a theory, a dream. It was admiration found in that against all obstacles, against all odds, he overcame everything to prove his theory. It was much like when Jim Whittaker, the first American to climb Mt. Everest fighting every step of the way, showed up on our farm some years back to work on a salmon enhancement project with the North Olympic Salmon Coalition. In an embarrassing moment of enthusiasm after being introduced and shaking his hand, I said, “you were one of my childhood heroes” to which Jim, 21 years my senior replied, “now I feel old”.
Back to Kon-Tiki and Thor Heyerdahl, as it turned out, with the advent of DNA testing, his theory has been now pretty much disproved but that does not diminish his accomplishment nor his spirit. The story is in never giving up in doing what you believe in, in doing what you love, in overcoming hardships. As with Mr. Whittaker, he never turned back nor gave up.
Johan Mak is just such a man. While his peers in Holland focus on producing the next 'Star Gazer' or 'Casablanca' (actually we do not believe Johan to have any equals), Johan has remained steadfast in his goal of developing unique garden lilies with beauty beyond reproach. Yes, the idea of the next 'Star Gazer' is always in the back of the mind of any true professional breeder, but Johan has never discarded a lily simply because it would not force well.
As we have just entered our 45th year as B & D Lilies, Johan on Sunday, July 31 celebrated his 45th year as a breeder making for a long history. As such, we have been blessed in seeing the best of the best of those 45 years of Johan's dedication and uncanny gift of thinking outside of the box for breeding unique, true garden worthy lilies.
We offer three photos here of 'Kon-Tiki', the first insert photo along with the closeup are from a greenhouse grown evaluation stem and the second insert photo was taken the weekend of the 30th of July this year in temperatures in the extreme upper 90's to low 100's. As shown, the color in the greenhouse with lower light conditions is just a bit richer than those grown in the full, unfiltered, blazing hot sun in the field. The important thing is 'Kon-Tiki' proved itself to be quite color fast and the petals did not scorch which is always a worry with Orientals. As with the greenhouse evaluation plant, providing some light afternoon shade will enhance the beauty of this lily even further in your garden.
The color of the inner portions of the petals? There seems to be no name for it. Our RHS color chart shows nothing to match it and a trip to a paint store with the question "what color would you say this is" was met with a blank look as a reply. The petal edges and tips are the purest, lavender-pink we have ever seen in a lily. We finally decided that if you were to take the skins off of a few ripe peaches, add a couple deeply colored persimmons, and throw them into the blender with a handful of ripe raspberries and hit “frappe,” we might be close. The spots are a bit deeper tone of this color mix that finally blends to a deep golden-yellow highlight to an almost cucumber green nectary. As these flowers are so unique, that is the best we can do.
This should be a mid July bloomer, but the season this year is about two weeks late. 'Kon-Tiki' reaches about 4 feet when settled and has a fragrance as lovely as the flower.
Very Limited, Johan said there will be only 10 bulbs available for spring delivery. This lily was added the morning of 8/3 and sold out the morning of 8/4. Possibly more in the fall of 2023.
Bulb Size - Our standard for bulbs of this lily cultivar ranges from Premium-size (16/18cm) to Exhibition-size (over 20 cm). Click here for details.
Classification: Oriental Hybrid Lily (USDA Zones 7b-9, lows to +5 F. Winter mulch recommended in the colder climates)
Stock # 7030 'Kon-Tiki' - Mak Oriental Hybrid™
J. Mak Oriental Hybrid™ is a trademark of Mak-Leek Inc.
I received the book 'Kon-Tiki' back in 1962 for my 12th birthday. I found it fascinating, reading it several times. I don't think it was so much the actual voyage from Peru to Polynesia that garnered my attention, but rather, it was an admiration for Thor Heyerdahl and how he followed through on his belief in a theory, a dream. It was admiration found in that against all obstacles, against all odds, he overcame everything to prove his theory. It was much like when Jim Whittaker, the first American to climb Mt. Everest fighting every step of the way, showed up on our farm some years back to work on a salmon enhancement project with the North Olympic Salmon Coalition. In an embarrassing moment of enthusiasm after being introduced and shaking his hand, I said, “you were one of my childhood heroes” to which Jim, 21 years my senior replied, “now I feel old”.
Back to Kon-Tiki and Thor Heyerdahl, as it turned out, with the advent of DNA testing, his theory has been now pretty much disproved but that does not diminish his accomplishment nor his spirit. The story is in never giving up in doing what you believe in, in doing what you love, in overcoming hardships. As with Mr. Whittaker, he never turned back nor gave up.
Johan Mak is just such a man. While his peers in Holland focus on producing the next 'Star Gazer' or 'Casablanca' (actually we do not believe Johan to have any equals), Johan has remained steadfast in his goal of developing unique garden lilies with beauty beyond reproach. Yes, the idea of the next 'Star Gazer' is always in the back of the mind of any true professional breeder, but Johan has never discarded a lily simply because it would not force well.
As we have just entered our 45th year as B & D Lilies, Johan on Sunday, July 31 celebrated his 45th year as a breeder making for a long history. As such, we have been blessed in seeing the best of the best of those 45 years of Johan's dedication and uncanny gift of thinking outside of the box for breeding unique, true garden worthy lilies.
We offer three photos here of 'Kon-Tiki', the first insert photo along with the closeup are from a greenhouse grown evaluation stem and the second insert photo was taken the weekend of the 30th of July this year in temperatures in the extreme upper 90's to low 100's. As shown, the color in the greenhouse with lower light conditions is just a bit richer than those grown in the full, unfiltered, blazing hot sun in the field. The important thing is 'Kon-Tiki' proved itself to be quite color fast and the petals did not scorch which is always a worry with Orientals. As with the greenhouse evaluation plant, providing some light afternoon shade will enhance the beauty of this lily even further in your garden.
The color of the inner portions of the petals? There seems to be no name for it. Our RHS color chart shows nothing to match it and a trip to a paint store with the question "what color would you say this is" was met with a blank look as a reply. The petal edges and tips are the purest, lavender-pink we have ever seen in a lily. We finally decided that if you were to take the skins off of a few ripe peaches, add a couple deeply colored persimmons, and throw them into the blender with a handful of ripe raspberries and hit “frappe,” we might be close. The spots are a bit deeper tone of this color mix that finally blends to a deep golden-yellow highlight to an almost cucumber green nectary. As these flowers are so unique, that is the best we can do.
This should be a mid July bloomer, but the season this year is about two weeks late. 'Kon-Tiki' reaches about 4 feet when settled and has a fragrance as lovely as the flower.
Very Limited, Johan said there will be only 10 bulbs available for spring delivery. This lily was added the morning of 8/3 and sold out the morning of 8/4. Possibly more in the fall of 2023.
Bulb Size - Our standard for bulbs of this lily cultivar ranges from Premium-size (16/18cm) to Exhibition-size (over 20 cm). Click here for details.
Classification: Oriental Hybrid Lily (USDA Zones 7b-9, lows to +5 F. Winter mulch recommended in the colder climates)
Stock # 7030 'Kon-Tiki' - Mak Oriental Hybrid™
J. Mak Oriental Hybrid™ is a trademark of Mak-Leek Inc.
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