Old-Fashioned Easter Lilies

Every year as Easter rolls around, there are two things that I especially look forward to: Cadbury Cream Eggs and Easter lilies. There's not a lot that I can say about Cream Eggs other than they taste really good, so I'll just focus on Easter lilies here.

Easter lilies, white and trumpet shaped, aren't seen too often anymore. In fact, I'm only able to find them in Atlanta during this time of year. I suppose that they're a rather old-fashioned lily, one that has now been supplanted in popularity by the Oriental varieties that are so prevalent today. When I was trying to find interior photos which showed Easter lilies, I could only find images from the 1930s to the 1960s, a time when the Easter lily was popular in both its potted form as well as in cut stem arrangements.

By the way, if you're wondering why these lilies are a symbol of Easter, it's because they're a symbol of both resurrection and purity. And one more tidbit of info: Easter lilies are also called Bermuda lilies.



A vase of cut lilies in the New York apartment of designer James Pendleton.




A Pierre Brissaud illustration shows the drawing room of the Harrison Williams.




A potted Easter lily in the Rose Cumming designed home of Dr. and Mrs. Russell Cecil.




McMillen's old Houston showroom. An urn is a classic way in which to plant a lily.




Some rather tall Easter lilies flanking the fireplace in this McMillen designed drawing room.




The sunroom of Françoise and Oscar de la Renta. The mirrored urns holding the Easter lilies look very disco.



Photos #1 and #2 from House & Garden's Complete Guide to Interior Decoration (1942); #3 from The Finest Rooms by America's Great Decorators; #4 and #5 from Sixty Years of Interior Design: The World of McMillen; #6 from HOUSE & GARDEN'S COMPLETE GUIDE TO INTERIOR DECORATION - SEVENTH EDITION.