Dr. Eugene E Fox
Millet, Alberta.
1937-2007
University of Alberta Professor in the Educational Psychology Department for 25 years as well as beef farmer. Ownership of his own home yard allowed him to indulge his interest in lilies beginning åbout 1962. It was kicked into high gear when he and his wife purchased an acreage in 1971.
He traced his fascination with lilies back to a memory of a large colony of L. philadelphicum he was shown on a family trip when he was 5! His interest in hybridizing was sparked by an article he read in the Edmonton Journal on Robert Simonet. He received bulbs and mentoring from Dan Dale and Fred Tarlton as well as Jean Ericksen. Hybridized largely Asiatics and martagons but also LAs. He was passionate about lilies in general but obsessed with martagons in particular and was considered one of the world’s authorities on them. These he was introduced to through Ed Robinson’s Gaybird Nursery Catalogue. Each year he would establish his hybridizing goals for that year as well as carrying over long term goals. His overarching goals included larger flowers, higher bud counts to prolong bloom season, brown or black stems for contrast and wider leaves in whorls. He was forward-thinking and never excluded the possibility of a breakthrough in an unlikely cross.
He encouraged “directional breeding’; moving in several different directions at once, using controlled crosses and careful record keeping. Owner of Fox Lily Ranch from which he issued an annual “‘bulbalogue’ because we don’t sell cats’! When asked, he said the favorites of his own hybridizing efforts were ‘Cherry Marble: ‘Rose Tattoo’ and ‘Irish Cream.’
Founding member of the ARLS in 1983. President of NALS 2004, 2005. Accredited NALS judge. International speaker. Author of “Martagon Lilies” 2006, Slate MacDanie1s Award NALS 2007 (posthumously). “You learn at the show tables, the banquet tables and the breakfast tables. No hybridizer should act in isolation” (NALS Yearbook, 1994, p. 55). The NALS Gene Fox Quarterly Bulletin Color Fund was created in 1997 to help offset the cost of color covers and inserts for the Quarterly Bulletin. It started with proceeds from the sale of raffle tickets, auctions and private gifts. This fund and the Research Trust Fund are the current favored recipients of donations from regional societies. The 2006 issue of the North American Lily Society Yearbook is dedicated to his memory. In his own words: “Hereafter is a lily that arrived after about 10 back-crosses over 30 years. To get the foliage, the black stems and the arching pedicels all into one plant took years. I registered one along the way as ‘Irish Cream: This one is going to be registered as ‘Ivory and Ebony’ unless I find a better moniker. See how the foliage stands out from the rest of the seedlings…”
Excerpted from “Canadian Lily Hybridizers and Their Lilies – A Working Garden Reference” by Leanne Dowd