Judith Freeman

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed....Something Blue?

Judith will reflect on her 46 years of hybridizing and studying lilies, the genetic patterns that recur in hybridizing, her goals for breeding diverse and reliable garden lilies (and successes and failures), her methods in breeding and study (including embryo culture, chromosomal studies, and paper chromatography), and her hopes for the future of lilies. She hopes for lots of audience participation and questions...because the “something borrowed” includes the inevitable “aha!” moments that come when lily lovers talk and share opinions as well as breeding material!

Tissue Culture Demonstration

Judith will share her knowledge and expertise when conducting a tissue culture demonstration on Sunday, July 2nd. Ms. Freeman will perform demonstrations of culturing from a small bulblet as well as a demonstration of bud culture, and will distribute tissue culture material to participants in the session. We encourage interested individuals to bring in a bud of a Lilium they would like to have bud cultured.

Judith Freeman began hybridizing lilies more than 30 years ago, and created The Lily Garden in 1979. In the beginning, we did everything by hand, even the planting, digging, and watering. As we’ve grown and moved our fields and bulbs over the years, we’ve experienced all sorts of weather and growing conditions, providing real life testing of the endurance, hardiness and garden reliability of the lily hybrids we’ve been developing in all that time.

Judith's academic background in genetics and botany has led to many years of delight in studying lilies along with breeding, growing and propagating them. It’s also a pleasure to share what she has learned by teaching many classes and workshops over the years.