My brother is a lily grower and hybridizer. He has a field on 5th Street in St. Catharines, and it is in its prime right now with lilies in bloom. You can see him loading the van with lilies to go to the National Show. The past two days was the Ontario Regional Lily Show in Burlington at the Royal Botanical Gardens.
Lilycrest Gardens brings to mind the "lilies of the field" in the Sermon on the Mount: 'Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin...'
Brian's field grows Lilium lilies - and the Madonna Lily is a special flower of Christian symbolism. However, it is unlikely to be the lily referred to. It doesn't grow in Israel. Tulips, poppies, daisies and other wildflowers have been suggested as candidates for “lilies of the field". And the likely candidate is the flower Anemone coronaria, the Crown Anemone. It grows in every part of Israel.
There are many possibilities to choose from as there are hundreds of flowers with Lily in the common name and dozens that grew in Israel. The reference remains interesting and mysterious, with no definitive answer.
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