Easter Lily Capitol of the World

Along a narrow coastal strip from Smith River, California up to Brookings, Oregon, a handful of farms grow 95% of all Easter lily bulbs for the potted plant market. It began with World War I veteran, Louis Houghton, who brought back a suitcase filled with the Lillium longiflorum bulbs to the west coast in 1919 and gave them to family and friends. From its humble beginnings in a suitcase, the Easter lily is now the fourth largest crop in the U.S. potted plant market (behind poinsettias, mums and azaleas).