A group of Scottish Ladies once thought lost forever are set to return to Dundee, where they started life some 40 years ago. The Ladies in question are a series of exotic lilies bred at SCRI - Scotland's leading crop research institute - which have been rediscovered following a nationwide quest by Peter Gill, Glasshouse and Field Services Manager.

The lilies were bred to cope with the harsher climate of Scotland, but nevertheless they have all the usual, beautiful attributes of the lily family: delicate flowers with various intricate formations and hues ranging from gold through red, orange and yellow to speckled cream.

Known as the Mylnefield Lilies, the collection was bred by the late Dr Christopher North at SCRI during the 1960s and 1970s. Dr North bred 17 new lilies; one series named after his female relatives - the Ladies - and the other after Gods - the Greek series. There was also another lily named after Christopher North’s grandson - also Chris - as Dr North didn’t want any of the lilies named after him.

Work on the lily varieties began as sideline for Dr North, whose main area of research was brassicas. With the support of the director of SCRI's predecessor, then called the Scottish Horticultural Research Institute, Dr North created and registered the new varieties specially bred to withstand cooler temperatures, wind and rain.

When the breeding programme ended the collection was dispersed throughout the UK, as there was little commercial interest in the lilies at the time, with several propagators and nurseries responsible for maintaining selected virus-free stocks. A virus-free collection of most of the Mylnefield Lilies was established in the late 1980s by Dr Peter Waister, with Dr North’s assistance, but in the intervening years, several of the varieties have been lost.

It was thought many of the varieties had gone forever, however with keen detective work and perseverance Peter Gill has successfully located many of them and returned them to SCRI.

His investigation led him across the country to the gardens of former SCRI employees, lily enthusiasts and the National Council for the Conservation of Plants (NCCP). He also visited National Trust for Scotland's Branklyn Gardens in Perth where the NCCP National Collection of Mylnefield Lilies is held.

With the help of the many people contacted during his search Peter Gill has been able to once more grow the North lilies at SCRI and bring the collection together again.

Speaking about his search Peter Gill said: “We have been trying to track down the lilies for over a year but there are still some of the Greek Gods series missing – Minos, Odysseus, Pandora and Phoebus.

“I’ve been to gardens of former SCRI employees, Branklyn Gardens in Perth, which holds a collection of North lilies and various nurseries although some of them are no longer in business.

“There is a place in Somerset that sells one of the lilies and the RHS Lily Group at Wisley Garden in Surrey has some others but we have not found them all.

“The lilies were bred as a garden lily to give colour and are at their best in July. They are also pretty robust to deal with the Scottish weather.

“We want to find all of the North lilies to preserve the collection that was started at SCRI and also have a display of the Mylnefield Lilies at our site here in Invergowrie.

“If anyone can help us with our search for the missing lilies we would be delighted to hear from them.”

There are plans to create a new garden with the Mylnefield Lilies at SCRI where they will be maintained for future generations.

More information from:

Lorraine Wakefield, Information and Online Service Officer, SCRI, Invergowrie, Dundee, DD2 5DA. Tel: 01382 562731 (switchboard).