The Easter lily is synonymous with this season of the year, and is seen as a joyful symbol of beauty, hope and life. To Christians, the lily is symbolic of the Resurrection, and the flower has long been used to decorate churches. During the Victorian era, however, churches viewed the Easter lily?s stamens and pistils as overt symbols of sexuality, and priests and ministers ordered them removed lest they encourage impure thoughts.

Here at home, Bermudians look forward to having the sweet-smelling, trumpet-like flowers in their gardens and homes, and they are also sought after for the decoration of churches and graves. Lilies are sold in nurseries, supermarkets, on roadsides, and by florists, and snapped up as soon as they appear.

According to Bell?s ?Beautiful Bermuda?, lilies were first brought to Bermuda from China by the captain of a sailing vessel early in the 19th Century and planted in a garden, where the gorgeous flowers were much-admired when they bloomed at Eastertime, while William Zuill?s ?Bermuda Journey? suggests that lilies were first cultivated at Government House by Mrs. Elliott, the Governor?s wife, around 1850. Also in the 1800s James Richardson exhibited blooms which astonished everyone, and Harley Trott took a lilium longiflorum lily plant bearing 145 blooms to New York, where it was shown in a fashionable hotel and achieved international attention. Other plants from the Trott garden won prizes in a horticultural exhibition in London, England. George West sent bulbs to a seedsman in Philadelphia who tested and found them successful, and soon a great demand was created. In the meantime, Mr. West increased his stock, and others began to grow bulbs. Retired US Army veteran General Russell Hastings, who moved to the Island with his family, saw the possibilities of lily bulbs becoming an export industry, and Bermuda subsequently became internationally renowned for its lilium Harrisii lily trade.

Bell?s ?Beautiful Bermuda? records a new seeding lily (lilium Howardii) being propagated from a seed produced by Howard Smith on Longfield Farm, St David?s in 1920 and introduced to the bulb trade in New York in 1937. Probably the earliest of all longiflorum lily types, it bloomed six to eight weeks earlier than the Harrisii variety, was hardy and disease resistant, and proved a winner. This lily was officially registered by Mr. Smith in the Supreme Court as ?Howardii? . Thereafter, fields were awash with the sweet-scented blooms, including huge areas of what is now known as Southside. Around 1906 the first lily buds were sent to friends in the US by parcel post, and from then on, as shipping methods became more sophisticated, both by sea and air, the business of sending buds to addresses in North America, Britain and Europe flourished. While those days are gone, there is still a long-standing tradition whereby lilies are sent to the Queen every Easter from the people of Bermuda, who eagerly looks forward to seeing them displayed at her favourite residence, Windsor Castle.