July 2003 issue of the Cornell Flower Bulb Research Program Research Newsletter:
Worldwide, lilies are mainly grown as a cut flower crop. Hybrid lilies are a highly diverse group of plants that can be forced for holiday or year round sales. The vast majority of the world’s breeding effort, centered in Holland, is for cut flower types. While the cultivar choices available for pot plant growers are increasing, there is substantial interest in the concept of tailoring cut flower varieties into pot plants. For forcers, the major advantages of pot hybrid lilies are the relative ease of production, high crop value per square meter, an ever-increasing variety selection, better height control possibilities (including both genetic and chemical growth regulation), excellent value for the consumer, and, in the case of Asiatic hybrids, a reasonably low greenhouse temperature requirement.