Can anyone recommend a good pink lily? The attached pictures are of Algarve, which I like quite a lot, but I'd like some of the same shell pink that bloom earlier or later. If possible I'd like to avoid the dark buds and dark early flowers that you see in one of the pictures.
TIA
LAS
One of my favorite suppliers, B& D Lilies, shows pinks by color. Here are the light to medium pinks. I myself grow Sorbonne and it is an incredibly reliable Oriental. I am about to order Bellsong, which I think is lovely:
http://www.bdlilies.com/pink.html
Sorbonne is about to bloom in my yard (I love it so much it is in three places). Here is a picture of Sorbonne from years ago. These were in quite a bit of shade, so I had to stake some of them. In full sun, where they are now, they are coming up straight as soldiers at attention.
They also have a category of rich pink to rose:
http://www.bdlilies.com/rose.html
I have Acapulco, which I grew in a pot last year since I was moving. It is the lily to the right (the left one is Halifax). It blooms in July, and it is exquisite.
Both of these lilies are recommended by B&D because of their reliability. Orientals can be fussy, and they suggested these two, and they have been winners for me.
Donna
I have some dark pink and light pink crinum (I think) lilies. Something I read a while back is making me wonder if they are a member of the lily family or a member of the amaryllis family?? I will try to upload pics but haven't been too successful from my iPad.
Oops, sorry.... Didn't mean to post on your thread!!
These asiatics are "Elodie." Considered to be a double petals. The come up reliably with nice, healthy thick stems and have never failed me so far.
Marcia
Elodie ~ double asiatic lily
growing strong for the past 8 years
SP, she's a real beauty!
I'm tempted to try Elodie again. I did once, but the flowers were too dark. But your photos look like a lovely shell pink. And I've seen my lovely Algarve develop dark pink, bordering on a pale maroon. Especially when the flowers are young. Where does Elodie fall on a scale with shell/apple blossom pink at one end and dark brownish pink at the other?
I generally get my lily bulbs in Costco as soon as they arrive in February. There is a wonderful selection, and that is where I bought Elodie. She is about 5 years old and has always been the same soft pink you should see on the screen in my photos and SPs. I don't measure on a color scale. I have lots of pink lilies, both asiatic and orientals that are darker. They ask for very little: full sun and good drainage. And for me in the northeast, a bit of spinosad to deter hungry lily beetles and keep them from hatching.
As you can see, lilies are not the only pink flowers in my garden. Much as I love lilies, if I were looking to maintain pink all summer, I'd pick an annual like snapdragon that keeps the same color and really fills out. While the fourth photo is a bit dark, caladium Kathleen is a soft pink with a small green margin. The first is a Barlow aquilegia (columbine); second is a tree peony; third is a Japanese peony.
You are the first "civilian" I've heard mention spinosad. I just completed my Master gardening program, and spinosad is not even mentioned in the materials, although you can find it online. I went to my favorite nursery and told them that I was wary of some of the systemics and they recommended it. It's from a bacterium, it's actually organic, and while you have to be cautious about application times, I found it stopped chewing. Some bug or other was making cottage cheese of my nepeta.
So it deters the lily leaf beetle? We don't have it in the Midwest (yet!) but that's good to know.
I've purchased a lot of chemical controls, only to throw them out after reading the contents and precautions. It's also the only thing that has prevented the larvae from coming up through the soil. If you had them (perish the thought!), you would know. They are throughout New England and northern New York state, but apparently haven't gone to Long Island. They probably had enough to eat from my yard.
Donna, have you ever dug lily bulbs this early? I dug some from a 35 gallon container where they have been planted for about 5 years. What I unearthedwere a few small bulbs and a bunch of little cloves. There were also some little bulblets on the base of the stem (not bulbils). I probably should have waited till the foliage completely died and the bulbs got stronger.
I can't believe you are asking me this!
I just came in from digging up a bunch - at least a dozen. Some of them have been placed where they will get more sun through the end of the year. I put a group of Regales in my front bed, and then took a number of lilies (mostly trumpets) and put them in a big pot of mostly finished compost. If you take enough soil with them they never know the difference. Last year I dug up lilies in bud at my old house, drove 32 miles, put them in the ground and they bloomed within a week.
They were fully foliaged. You really can get away with this. I make it easy by picking the spot to move them to, and then doing it immediately, stem and all, plus some compost, bulb food and water. They're not that smart. You can fool them into acting as though they were never out of the ground. Just leave the stem completely intact - and use a fork to get under the entire clump so you don't slice them.
In fact, I bought a bunch of Crystal Blancas and Sorbonnes earlier this year, put them in pots on my enclosed patio, and when they started to bud, carefully removed them from the pots and put them in the ground to bloom. If you have trouble with creatures nipping the early buds you can do this so that the plants are bigger.
The desperation of having to move has ended up being a plus because of the things I had to try. I moved a shrub three times this spring because I didn't like the way I installed it and it ended up having the best bloom it ever had. I feel like a mad scientist!
Another pink lilli, Lollypop, second year, grown in a pot. Etelka
Here is a pink with yellow: Pink Mystery
