Faraway Flowers is open for spring orders

I just got more Pearl Lorraine (tried one last year and fell in love), Bellsong (a longiflorum oriental) and Blueberry Crush (oriental trumpet).

Great prices and she's a Dave's Garden subscriber. I have never lost a lily I purchased from her.

http://www.farawayflowers.com/index.php?osCsid=124e4f9ae64c10e4ab9b1d21fc392e4d

Yes, very good!!!

ohhhh...I'm drooling! Pop Star Lily Allen is calling my name and it's coming home this Spring!

Ana Alen

Yes, that's a beauty. Love orange!

Okay. got in my order, Cali, Robert Griesbach, Playtime, Pearl Stacey. Playtime is a reorder as I rotted mine this spring. But it was so gorgeous I had to have it. Also reordered Gizmo for the same reason.

Sounds delicious! :)

I can't resist LOs as they do so well in my garden. Got bell song as Donna liked it, the pink heaven and Cali

This message was edited Jan 29, 2014 8:19 AM

Ah, Voss, great taste - just like mine!

I have come to really love LO's but there not many. If you don't have it, Prince Promise is FABULOUS! I originally got it at The Lily Garden, and then lost it in the transition to my new house, and then it seemed to disappear from commerce. It reappeared at B&D Lilies this season, and I grabbed it.

http://www.bdlilies.com/l9409.html

I think this class of lilies is the bomb - beautiful, scented, tough. Maybe it's because longiflorums are tender in my zone and I used to grow white ones from seed that I had to protect over the winter. And they are inexpensive!

They are indeed gorgeous. I haven't had a lot of luck with them. Though I keep trying.

I had such fun talking with Bob Gibson of B&D Lilies yesterday. It all has to do with the tons of card fraud and the fact that my credit union changed from Visa to Mastercard and then ditched the Mastercard and issue a new one - all in one month He and Dianna were in Tacoma for a show and he promised to call me from there - and did.

What fun he is to talk to! He had some interesting observations. I personally did not know that B&D introduced Casa Blanca to this country. But was really interesting was when I started talking about the lilies that thrived over a number of years in my garden, and he identified them all as "old" cultivars - more than 20 years old. Some of the ones in my garden are Acapulco, Sorbonne, Red Alert, Hiawatha. The lilies that keel are often the newer cultivars. You know, the irritating ones that don't appear in year two or three. And cost a lot of money.

Another interesting thing. I don't think I'm the only person who has noticed that Silk Road doesn't form bulblets. The bulb just gets bigger. I grew several of them for years and got ONE bulbil. Bob said that there are lilies that have to be scaled for reproduction because they don't form bulblets - and Silk Road is one of them.

My Silk Road has never Bloomed. Actually I am not sure where it ended up. After last year's messup it may not even be out there. It was a freebie from TLG but still.

Oh boy. Now I am really confused. I looked up Scherazade and Silk Road on B&D and they gave a long explanation about the source and hybridizer. Then I look at TLG and they indicate that they have hybridized both of these. Am I missing something.

Reason I didn't get prince promise is b/c it look just like triumphator, which btw is phenomenal in my garden

I got Silk Road as a freebie too. It turned out to be a tough cookie. I put several lilies in a bed exposed to a walnut tree. The walnut killed all the asiatics (sadly, they were gifts from The Lily Garden) but Silk Road bloomed, albeit at half the normal height.

When I was transitioning between my old house and new, I spent a year in an apartment that I chose specifically for its large balcony and light. These three Silk Roads are in pots!. They grew to twice the size they had been in the ground. Can you imagine? Pulled out of the ground, stuffed in pots, and they thrived.

Anastasia thrived too.

I remember those pictures. Phenomenal.

Hey Mary!

Judith Freeman was once known as Mrs. Ed McRae, the creator of Scherazade. They divorced before his death, which was fairly recent, but they got on well and continued to work together. I'n not 100% sure he did it under the umbrella "The Lily Garden" upon creation, but it was probably shifted there later.

So you are right to be confused, but the information is essentially correct.

(I read a lot of lily books, and the lily gossip comes to me).

Neat. Thanks Donna. It was just confusing and I guess I am a little cynical after some of the stuff I have read about the 'flower/plant' market.

You have every reason to be cynical. I have learned to watch out for the heavy marketing, from Proven Winners that fail or underperform to big, bold, expensive orienpets that keel within a season. I get small shrubs from Raulston Arboretum, and they get some heavily marketed plants to give as gifts. Some of them are fantastic, and some are duds in my climate. I am just happy I'm not paying $30 for them.

One of my favorites is the supposed blackspot free status of Knockouts. When I sit at the Master Gardener help desk, one of my biggest inquiried about any single plant relates to virusing and blackspotting on them, and you know (she said sarcastically) it's my favorite rose.

Oh year!!! We know. LOL

d this on the All Things Plants forum:

http://allthingsplants.com/thread/view/24244/Sad-News----Faraway-Flowers/

She is supposedly closing her business and will refund all payments. Has anyone heard anything? I paid for my order and sent her an email, asking whether this is true and, if so, requesting a refund..

Corrected to say that I used the paypal pay after delivery option.

Donna

This message was edited Apr 21, 2014 12:17 PM

I received my order from Ramona. The bulbs are great.The issue with the inspection was resolved and she stated that all were released. She did a great job of keeping me informed. Did not receive any notice of her closing though.

Gary

I believe I have a fall order coming from her. Oh I do hope it is a false rumor. I love her plants. Surely her children would take over for her.

I haven't heard anything from her. I have no information at all. You are in Minnesota and I would think I would have received mine before you. When you say that you were kept informed, may I ask what you meant? May I also ask when you received your bulbs?

Thanks,

Donna

Oh, I hope she's not closing. I just found this. I have a order from her that has not came yet either. I haven't tried to email her. I was hoping the bad weather had been the delay. Now, I'm worried I won't be getting them at all. I'll post if I hear anything or get my Lily bulbs. I ordered Pearl Jessica and Pop Star Lily Allen and Chocolate Canary. I have been looking forward to them. Hope I'll still get them.

Well, I placed a pay after delivery order on January 19. This is not the first time that I have ordered from her, but when I go onto her site it states that I have never ordered from her, yet I have a password.

It seems that things are a bit out of order.

You might want to go onto the site and see if your order is there. Paypal has a record of it, but the company appears not too, unless they are having a web issue.

I ordered mine off the LA from her. She had a bunch listed back in Jan. or early Feb. I'll try to email her and let you know what happens. Fingers crossed we get our bulbs.

Donna

I received my bulbs in early April. I had ordered them on the LA. Shortly after I received them I received an email from Ramona stating that the bulbs had not gone through the proper inspection by USDA. I was asked not to plant them until she received directions from USDA. I thought I would either have to destroy them or return them. Last Wed I received an email stating that the bulbs were good to go, they had all passed inspection.Her bulbs apparently come from several sources some of which were either ignorant of proper import/export requirements or had tried to avoid them. There wasm one Bellsong which failed inspection for which I received a refund included in the shipment.

I receivedPearl Lorraine, Pop Star Lily Allen,Kushi Maya,Milden Red Ball, plus a bonus bulb L pardilnum. The bulbs are great.

As far as her closing there was some situation last fall where she was very disappointed with something,I don't recal what it was about but she had said it wasn't worth the headaches. She apparently changed her mind but now with this problem perhaps she will close?

I would assume orders will be shipped because the bulbs all passed inspection, as far as her continuing in the business, I don't know. I would order from her again.She was very quick to respond to my inquiries but of course had to wait for the decision from USDA.

Gary

You know that rings a vague bell with me. The not having a history and yet having an account and password. Seems like I questioned this and was told they had changed software. Perhaps the new company lost all her history. That would be enough to want anyone to just give up, depending on other circumstances. Could be another company though.

I just heard from her, and she is shipping the bulbs. She really does think that she is closing her company.

I really think it's hard to be a small vendor now.

The odd thing is that my order was pay after delivery, but Paypal took the funds right away. I ordered them on January 19 and they took the funds the same day. Hum....

Ramona contacted me. Poor thing. I am getting a partial order and a refund.

I will be so sorry to see her close. Don't know circumstances but she was so great, generous and had such beautiful flowers. Wonder what she will do with her fields. Sell them I suppose. Or just dig the bulbs and sell those but keep the land. I think that is what I would do. Wish there was something we could do. I guess at least send an email thanking her for all her lovely flowers and expressing sadness at her shutting down.

I received a beautiful order from the Lily Garden a couple of days ago. It is too bad that she has had so many complications.

I am very pleased to be able to say that I received all of my bulbs except for Bellsong, and I that I received a gift lily and a refund check. I think that this has been handled beautifully and I plan to write a great review on Garden Watchdog, just in case Ramona decides to return to the business, as well as a thank you message to her.

I'm happy to report I received my bulbs and a bonus and a apology for the delay in shipping.

I actually posted a note at the end of a note in the dahlias that I received my dahlias, small ref ck, and a letter explaining Ramona's difficulties this spring. Included in all orders I believe. She really got slam dunked this spring with multiple problems. No wonder she just wants to quit. But NOT entirely per her letter.

I hope she doesn't quit. She has such nice Lily bulbs and she's so nice to deal with.