This is the group of lilies that grows in the wild. At the moment there are about 100 different species lilies, spread out over the whole northern hemisphere. Every species lily has her own growing specifics, some grow well under all kinds of garden conditions, others are more picky when it comes to their environment.
The species offered have proven to be easily grown in gardens, and they are not too choosy when it comes to soil types and growing conditions.
The species lilies offered nowadays are, in general, selections made out of the original, wild growing, species lilies. In nature you often see a great deal of variation within a single species, and growers used to start by looking for the largest and strongest plant to collect seeds from. Once a grower starts multiplying this bulb he will continue to look for plants that perform better than the rest for further propagation. Every time he will choose his best plants to continue the stock and by doing this you will often see propagated lilies perfroming much better than the ones growing in the wild.