The following article appeared in the Wisconsin R-E-C News and is reproduced here with their kind permission.

Hoepner Makes Nature's Best Even Better Through Hybridization

In early July (1998), Harold "Hod" Hoepner and his wife, Lorraine, entertained his Kiwanis Club at a catered dinner in the vast lily gardens at their home south of Eau Claire. A few days later, he invited the general public to three "lily walks" on his property. Then - and only then - did he consent to the open-heart surgery that his doctors had recommended.

I had to hold out until the lilies bloomed," Hoepner said. "I wanted to share my lilies with the public one more time." Years ago, doctors had warned Hoepner that he should sell his greenhouse, get rid of his plants, and slow down. But that's easier said than done when you have thousands of lilies planted in your property, with 700 potted lilies in your greenhouse alone. And it's easier said than done when you've been immersed in your hobby for 35 years and have come to be regarded as one the nation's top experts in your field.

As a grower and hybridizer of lilies, Hoepner, whose home is located on Eau Claire Electric Co-op lines, has done much to advance the genus lilium. To date, he has 15 of his hybrid lilies registered by the Royal Horticultural Society - many with names honoring friends and relatives. There is Sergeant Kelley, a vibrant red lily named for a soldier who served with Hoepner and died at the Battle of the Bulge. There is Sweet Lorraine, a fluorescent orange lily with pink and green tinges, named for his wife; and there are Bridgett and Song of Kimberly, for his granddaughters.

Other favorites are Pal Mel, with cream flowers, and Warhawk, a red-orange bicolor. The diminutive Polkadot Bikini looks like its name. And there are the "Wisconsin lilies" - the white Wisconsin Snow and the burgundy-red On Wisconsin. The list goes on. Hoepner plans to register still more, though the process requires as much as seven years of testing and documentation.

Hoepner, who belongs to the North Star Lily Society, the North American Lily Society and other regional societies, often travels to lily shows to enter his blooms. He was instrumental in founding the Wisconsin Regional Lily Society (WRLS) in 1984, serving as first president of the group. He has often been asked to speak to various regional societies, including the very large Pacific Regional Lily Society. And he has been an accredited judge for lily shows for many years. He is one of the elite in his field.

From games to war.

Shipped to Europe with the 78th Infantry Division, he took part in the Battle of the Bulge and other skirmishes that reduced his company from 200 to about two dozen. When Hoepner was discharged in late 1945, he was the owner of two bronze stars, three battlefield campaign stars, and the Presidential Citation. He had also acquired his wife, Lorraine, and a son, Terry. (two more sons, George and Dennis, were born after the war.)

In 1945, Hoepner went back to baseball, joining the Minnesota Millers. "I really think I could have pitched for the big leagues," he said." But I was sidelined by an injury and high blood pressure. There went my baseball career! What a disappointment!"

Since a career switch was in order, Hoepner enrolled in baking schools and soon owned bakeries of his own - first in Milwaukee, then a series of bakeries and a catering service in Eau Claire. The family business is now run by one of the Hoepner sons. Lorraine still works there, but Hod retired after a 1982 heart attack and prepared to enjoy his hobbies.

When Hod and Lorraine built their current home south of Eau Claire, he gave up most other kinds of perennials to devote his entire garden - as well as his entire concentration - to his newest passion. Soon he had torn up more and more grass to increase the number of his lily beds and had built a large greenhouse on the property.

Not content with simply growing lilies, Hoepner began hybridizing his favorite flowers to produce even more beautiful new strains. "There's more to it than meets the eye," he explained. "You have to know what you're looking for. You can't just put the pollen of one lily on the stigma of another and call it hybridization. Bud count and are important, as well as beauty." He grows and hybridizes Asiatic, Oriental, Trumpet, Orienpet (a cross between Oriental and Trumpet), and Longiflorium lilies. Orientals, his favorites, are extremely hard to grow outdoors in Wisconsin.

Hoepner has lilies whose flowers are of every conceivable shade. They are outward facing, downward facing, and upward facing. Some have huge flowers, while others have dainty miniature blooms. His lilies may be diploid (having the usual 24 chromosomes), triploid (36 chromosomes), or the larger and more vigorous tetraploids (48 chromosomes).

Cloning the best of the beauties.

With these techniques, even Hoepner's non-registered lilies are valuable. "Once some men from a Japanese tobacco company came and wanted to buy some of my lilies. Name your price," they said, "Hoepner recalled. "I said $1,000 a piece," and they agreed. They finally ended up buying just one - a beautiful, untested pink one. I gave them full rights, including naming. I never did hear what they did with it."

Man of many talents.

Lilies are not all that occupy his time. Hoepner is an active Kiwanis member and often mans the booth at the Eau Claire Tourism & Visitors Bureau as a volunteer. "I like to meet people, and I know the area very well," he explained.

Hoepner also volunteers for the Salvation Army and the Disabled Vets. "As a disabled veteran myself, I want to use some of the benefits I enjoy to help others," he said.

A man of many talents, Hoepner is a photographer and is proficient in painting. (Favorite art subjects, of course, include his lilies.)

But in the long run, next to his family, it's his lily society relationships that give him the greatest pleasure. He especially enjoys belonging to an elite group of 10 of the best known lily hybridizers in North America. When they meet this year in Canada, he will sadly, be absent. His health will not permit him to travel that far. "Oh, there's politics in the lily business," he admitted. "But I've known the best in the business. Lorraine and I value our friends we've made here."

One reason Hoepner has made so many friends is his generosity. He is more concerned with promoting and advancing the lily than with earning a profit from it. He has given countless seeds and plants to those serious about growing lilies, and he has donated both his paintings and his prize bulbs to auctions that will benefit lily research. Most important, according to his colleagues, he has selflessly offered advice, becoming a mentor to the lily leaders of the future.

Lily legacy.

Reprinted with permission. This article was originally authored by Linda Hamilton and printed in the August, 1998 Wisconsin R-E-C News, Vol. 59 No. 2