LAKE WASHINGTON — Karen Wright’s flower beds have been meticulously prepped for a visit during a horticultural society’s tour of lily gardens in the region this weekend. The group is in the state for a 74th annual international show and symposium in Bloomington.
From 1-4 p.m. Sunday, the general public also will have an opportunity to view the colorful blooms growing at her family’s lakeside home, 3792 Sioux Lane.
“Since they are all ready to show, why not let everybody who’s interested in lilies see them, too?” said Wright, a board member The North Star Lily Society of Minnesota.
Her son Grant Pribyl developed many of the hybrid Asiatic lilies available for flower lovers to enjoy. The blooms’ colors include deep reds, almost black, purples, yellows, oranges, whites, pinks and multi-hued.
“It’s getting toward the end of the season for the Asiatics, but the trumpet lilies have started to bloom — and they are very fragrant.”
The lily show runs through Sunday at the Hilton Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport hotel. This year’s sponsor is Wright’s organization, the North Star Lily Society.
“There are growers here from Canada, Sweden and Hungary,” she said.
Wright and Pribyl, a former society board member, both have entries in novice-level competitions.
“I entered an arrangement with a ‘Northland’ theme,” he said, describing how he combined some of the lilies he’s grown with twigs and moss for his creation.
This year’s early spring and rainy summer have had an impact on lily growers, Wright said. Flowers faded weeks ago on some society members’ plants that usually bloom around the time of the show.
As for the Mankato region, the abundance of moisture in the soil helped lilies blossom beautifully this year.
“However, the rain made pollen run down of the lilies’ petals. People had to brush the pollen off before they entered flowers in the show,” Wright said.