06/10/2026
(an affiliate of the North American Lily Society)
29th Annual Martagon Lily Show 2026
June 27 & 28th 2026
University of Alberta Botanical Garden. 51227 Hwy 60 Parkland County
Check out the 28th Martagon Show. Judging takes place from 9:30 to 12:00 pm on Saturday. Public viewing 12:00 to 5:00 pm - Saturday and 10:00 am to 4:30 pm on Sunday.
What is a Martagon Lily? Martagon species and their hybrids are dainty Turks-cap shaped, downfacing lilies. They are hardy garden bulbs, and have an ability to withstand a wide variety of garden soils, although as with most lilies, they do not tolerate extremely wet conditions. One of the first lilies to bloom each year, they do well in dappled shade, making them more shade tolerant than most garden lilies. They make exotic-looking part-shade companions to Hosta and woodland perennials or shrubs. Most varieties grow 31/2 - 41/2 feet tall, although some up to 6′, carrying 15 - 50 blooms on delicate stems with whorled leaves, exploding into colour in late June – early July in our region.
ARLS 2026 MARTAGON LILY SHOW
RULES & REGULATIONS – GENERAL
Entries will be accepted on Friday, June 26 - 4:00
p.m. - 7:00 p.m. & Saturday June 27 – 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
Judging will commence at 9:30 a.m. on June 27.
Show opens to the public at noon. Sat June 27 unless judging is still underway.
SHOW INFORMATION
• Entries remain the property of the exhibitor.
• Exhibitors must obtain official entry cards and an exhibitor’s number in advance or at the staging of the show.
• Entry cards and numbers may be obtained by phoning the Martagon Show Chair, Lorne Kaban at 780-573-4249
• Classes may be added or divided at the discretion of the Show Judges Committee. • Each entry must be correctly named, identified with an official entry card and placed in the proper class. Both sections of the entry card must be completed.
• The Classification Committee reserves the right to reassign entries that have been made incorrectly. • The Show Committee is not responsible for personal property.
• All entries must remain in place until the close of the show.
• The Show closes on Sunday, June 28 at 4:30 p.m.
• Species lily stems (other than Martagons and their hybrids), brought for display may be judged at the discretion of the accredited judges, but do not count towards Martagon Show Awards nor sweepstakes.
HORTICULTURE
• Classes are open to any grower of lilies
• Exhibitors may make more than one entry in a class, provided that each is different.
• The exhibitor must have grown Martagon Lilies outdoors without protection.
• Specimens with major abnormalities will be set aside and not judged.
• Each stem must be staged in a separate container, including those entered in multiple stem classes. The ARLS Show Committee will supply containers to hold stems.
• A lily stem must have at least one bloom open to the typical shape for that particular variety to be eligible for judging.
• DO NOT remove pollen anthers.
JUDGING
Entries not made in accordance to the show schedule are automatically eliminated. • The official NALS scale of points will be used in evaluating specimens entered in competitive horticultural classes for named and registered Martagon
Lilies.
Condition .................................... 30
Vigour........................................... 20
Placement on stem...................... 20
Substance of flowers .................. 10
Form of flowers............................ 10
Colour of flowers.......................... 10
Total of......................................... 100%
The LIGHTY System will be used for judging unnamed seedlings. Breeding Advance will be evaluated as follows:
Vigour .......................................... 20
Placement on stem ...................... 20
Substance of flowers ................... 20
Form of flowers ............................ 20
Colour of flowers .......................... 20
Total of ......................................... 100%
A first-place entry must score high in at least two attributes.
• In the event that there is not a first-place ribbon given in a class designated for an award, the award shall not be given for that class. Only first place stems are to be considered for an award.
• In multiple stem classes utmost consideration will be given to uniformity,
• Sweepstakes awards will be awarded to the person with the most first-place ribbons. In the event of a tie, the second, third and honourable mention ribbons will be counted successively.
• In judging the FRED TARLTON AWARD (Best Stem of Martagon Show), first placed entries in multiple stem classes may be considered.
AWARDS
The Alberta Regional Lily Society is the sponsor of all awards presented, unless otherwise specified
In 2014, ARLS introduced a special award for First Time
Exhibitors. This Award will be chosen from the stems a *FTE has entered into the Martagon Show. The intent of the FTE Award is to encourage First Time Exhibitors, and also provide an opportunity to discuss with the FTEs how to identify show quality stems and how to present them. One First Time Exhibitor Award will be awarded at the Awards Presentation. A *FTE is someone who has never entered a lily show previously. If you are a firsttime exhibitor, please let the classification team know when you arrive. To aid in tabulation, “FTE” should be listed in the notes section directly on the Show Tag on each entry for First Time Exhibitors, so as to identify First Time Exhibitors entries for this special award.
• FRED TARLTON AWARD - Best Stem of the Martagon Show
• Sweepstakes - Gold, Silver, Bronze
• Best Collection of Six Martagons
• Hybridizer’s Award - Best Stem from Class 8 (VIII)
• ALBERTA REGIONAL LILY SOCIETY AWARD - Best Alberta-bred registered martagon
• FTE Award - Special Award for First Time Exhibitors
• JUNIOR SHOW - Best Stem of Junior Show; Junior Sweepstakes - Gold, Silver, Bronze.
SHOW SECTION I - MARTAGON LILIES
SINGLE STEM ENTRIES
Class
I Species or its natural variant
II Red shades– registered
III Pink shades – registeredII – Unnamed or unregistered
IV Orange shades – registered
V Yellow shades – registered
VI White or off-white shades – registered
VII Any other colour– registered
VIII Unnamed hybrid seedling hybridized and grown from seed by the exhibitor
IX Unnamed hybrid seedling grown from seed by the exhibitor
X Unregistered named cultivars, named strains, hybrid groups and unknown, unnamed seedlings
MULTIPLE STEM ENTRIES
XI Three stems, one variety.
XII Three stems, three varieties, eachidentified
XIII Collection of six different Martagons,each identified
as registered, unregistered or martagon species
SHOW SECTION 2 –
MARTAGON LILIES
JUNIOR SHOW
SINGLE STEM ENTRIES
Class
I Any shade registered
II Unnamed or unregistered stem
MULTIPLE STEM ENTRIES
III Three stems identified
Want to see more lilies?
ARLS is hosting 39th Annual Lily Show
July 18 & 19, 2026 at Greenland Garden Centre, Sherwood Park
• Come see hundreds of named lily varieties, hybrids and species
• Floral design competition featuring lilies
