Number of Blooms

• Many individual lily blooms range from 2 to 5 inches across. Asiatic hybrids are hardy to USDA zone 3 and their bright, open faces measure between 3 and 5 inches across. Mature plants grow a dozen or more flowers on a stem, creating a bouquet by themselves. Martagon and American hybrids feature smaller flowers that hang in long, arching arrays of pendulous Turk's cap blooms. What these lilies lack in size they make up for in number of blooms per stalk.
  
  

Longest Period

• Asiatic hybrids provide more blooms over a longer period than larger cousins.Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  In addition to being hardy, Asiatic hybrids enjoy one of the longest periods of bloom of the hybrid lilies. Originally early to mid-season bloomers, new varieties extend their bloom into August, making them one of the longest-blooming perennials in the garden. Oriental hybrids take over mid-season and bloom through August and early September. Often called Stargazers, Oriental flowers are larger than the Asiatics and retain a graceful funnel shape rather than opening flat like so many Asiatic varieties.
  
  

Giants of the Garden

• Division 6 of the North American Lily Society's lily groups, the trumpets and Aurelians, grow the biggest plants in the garden. Aurelian Turk's cap blooms may be 5 inches wide. Plants may tower up to 5 feet tall and require staking. Trumpet lilies, descended from Lilium luecanthum and L. regale, grow the largest flowers with blooms up to 10 inches long.
  
  

New Breeds

• Commercial growers are constantly developing new hybrids for gardens and the floral trade. The Easter Lily (L. longiflorum) trumpets measure 8 inches long atop 2-foot stalks but look modest next to newer hybrids. LA hybrids combine the large size of longiflorums with the brilliant colors and long bloom time of the Asiatics. The OT hybrids -- Oriental crossed with Trumpet hybrids, sometimes called "orienpets" -- combine size of the trumpet hybrids with scent and form of the Orientals. LO hybrids combine the longiflorum shape with Oriental color and scent. Hybridizers also hope to breed the three largest lilies -- longiflum, trumpet and Oriental -- with Asiatic hybrids to create large, substantial blooms in new colors, according to the Netherlands Bulb Information Center.