Regier’s Casablanca flowers grow a lily more each year

The month of July marks a unique time for a family living along 14th Street in Aurora. Growing around the house owned by the Juanita ‘Nitta’ Regier and her husband, John, pure white lilies with rust-colored anthers bloom out from the flower beds. 
According to the owner of Nitta’s Bed & Breakfast and Catering, the flowers had become a home welcoming gift once they moved to their current address after selling the bed and breakfast in 2020.
“I had a friend, (the late) Timothy Otto, who was a lawyer here,” Regier said. “He and I were friends and when we moved here, he said he would come out and we would plant Casablanca lilies. He brought 100 bulbs and we planted them all the way around the house,” Regier stated. 
Casablanca lilies, otherwise known as the white oriental lily, were introduced in North America in the 1980s from Korea and Japan. Associated with white lilies, they are often depicted as sacred symbols of purity. The lilies are commonly used for weddings and funerals.
With the lilies being capable of growing three to four feet tall, Regier and Otto had to plant the bulbs six inches underground.
“My husband made a drill so that I could drill the holes and Tim put the bulbs in because he wouldn’t let me do it because they would end up in China,” she recalled.
While Regier couldn’t say how many flowers had grown from the bulbs that year, she commented that one bulb could have up to four or five blooms at different times throughout the summer. With each new summer, more lilies have bloomed.
“I don’t have to dig them up or anything like that,” she commented. “They just come and multiply.”
As the lilies begin rooting from the ground at the start of spring, Regier has her flower beds covered with soybean mulch.
“I always use soybean mulch for all my flowers,” Regier said. “That seems to give them a little bit of fertilizer and it gives some coverage.”
Because of the significant height the lilies can grow to, the Regiers have resorted to creative means to keep the lilies standing.
“I’ve never seen a lily that tall,” Regier commented. “My husband and I used fishing line to hold them up, because they’re so heavy. When they’re growing, that will hold the bloom up, because if you don’t then they’ll fall to the ground and since it rains, that kind of destroys them.”
Despite environmental risks such as weather, Regier commented that she never had problems growing the lilies throughout the spring and summer.
One of the unique traits Regier highlighted of the Casablanca lily is its sweet fragrance, which can become overwhelming for those with allergies.
“They’re beautiful, but it’s hard,” she commented. “My husband has a hard time with his asthma so if I make a big bouquet, I put it out on the patio.”
Lilies can create health problems with pets, too, as the lily is highly toxic to cats, which can cause dangerous complications to cats if not treated for.
Regier also advised for gardeners or flower enthusiasts that the anthers within the lily should be cut from the plant to avoid stains.
“You always want to cut these off because they will stain everything,” she said. “There’s this rust color and if they get on your hands, they will stain your hands or your clothes. It’s hard to get off.”
Once the lilies are cut from the stem, Regier said the lilies can live for a few weeks, as long as they’re cared for.
“I’ve had these for two weeks and I keep them in water,” she said, gesturing to a vase of Casablanca lilies within her home. 
While the lilies are on full display for pedestrians, drivers and neighbors to see, the flowers don’t stay in the Regier garden for too long.
“People like them and they’re beautiful,” she explained. “I just share them with everybody that wants some. As soon as they come up, I start cutting them and deliver them to people.”
Among the people that Regier has given flowers to is former Hampton community columnist Noni Troester, who started receiving lilies from Regier last year.
“I was so excited because I had some but I had to let them go,” Troester said, “They never got that beautiful because I didn’t have them that long.”
Troester shared that she had become acquainted with the Regiers shortly after the couple married and had moved to Nebraska from California. Once having a garden of her own, she said the lilies were always a touching gift.
“It makes a lump in my throat that’s for sure,” Troester commented.
Along with Troester, Regier has given the lilies away to nursing homes and churches in Aurora as well as whoever happens to be around admiring the flowers.
“There was a little girl and her mother who were at (Refshauge) Park last week,” Regier said. “I was out cutting flowers, so I asked them, ‘Would you like some flowers?’ They came over from Central City and they said, ‘Oh, we would love to have some of your flowers.’ So I gave them some flowers.”
In addition to her Casablanca lilies, Regier treasures the tiger lilies and hydrangeas that are planted at the front of her house as of this writing.
While she hasn’t dug up any bulbs from Casablanca lilies yet, Regier is considered bringing up bulbs as well as the fully grown lilies.
“People have asked me for bulbs,” she said. “I’ve got to look into it and see when is the time to dig some up and replant them.”
As her garden grows, Regier hopes to continue to share flowers as they bloom throughout the community, remembering each person she gives back to so she can bring them again once they fully bloom.
While the lilies will be completely gone from the Regier’s garden in August, the flowers are expected to fully bloom once more in July next year.