2014 lilies

My KF grew to over 6' tall and would 'break' and collapse at the break point, usually about 2-3 feet from the top. And it definitely had seeds. I had Blue Fescue which also seeds but not as much and I cut them off as it is the grass itself that I like. A nice 2' clump that gets wider and wider. Maybe the grass is from my dratted crabgrass in my lawn. Miserable stuff.

Has anyone seen Playtime for sale. I had it last year and lost it. I have only seen one source and they show out of stock.

I was going to refer you to McClure and Zimmerman, which would have shipped it in spring, but they are now declining to ship to Alaska or Hawaii.

http://www.mzbulb.com/dc.asp?c=97

I would be happy to order it for you in spring, have it shipped here, and send it to you.

Donna

Gosh darn. It would be wonderful if you would do so. Thanks so much. I really love that lily.

I am very happy to do it. And it's easy. I have a spring order list. How many bulbs would you like? And if you can request a shipping date, what would it be? That way I can put it on my list so I won't forget. You can dmail me the specifics, if you prefer.

"Gosh darn". How cute!

Cute??!! Cute you say??? :)

I'm amazed. Speciosum Uchida is still blooming. The first flower was on August 20. Maybe before then. I posted on that date. The last flower has opened. I have never had lilies in September unless I grew them from seed. Wow!

Congratulations. My dahlias and lilies are going strong despite the terrible down pour today. Or maybe because of the moisture. Who knows. Kind of hard on the larger dahlias with weak stems though.

A new experiment. Rare gladiolus bulbs from South Africa. Only bloom in the winter. Didn't know that when I ordered them. I love the Abyssinian glads I have and they have bloomed in pots wonderfully this year. Again I think due to getting sufficient water. I have about 6 3 gallon pots with 6-7 corms each. All together on a gravel water garden area in the back yard.

Anyway, the African ones will get potted up in a month with potting mix and horticultural pumice and about 16 hours or so of light each day. I only have enough for maybe four small pots, about 4 corms each. Will help pass the winter if it works.

I've always wanted to try the Abyssinian but wasn't sure it would work.. I used to grow conventional glads outdoors and I would dig them, bring them in and then replant them the following year. I didn't even mind staking them. My favorite was a screaming red called Matchpoint.

I have managed to grow some but I don't quite have the knack yet. The Abyssinians are really hardy though to survive me. I do 'unpot' them and store in paper bags all winter in the garage. I have a gazillion corms if you would like to give them a try?

Here are two shots of my Abyssinians out back. Looking kind of sad at this late summer but you can imagine how they looked when in full bloom.

Would I ever!

Made a note to self when I unpot them. Probably by the end of the month. They will be done by then.

Sapporo is finally struggling to open but I don't think it will make it. Another one that is supposed to bloom late August. Just doesn't work here.

I know this sounds silly, but sometimes I take my lilies, pot them up and put them on my southfacing porch. It accelerates their opening by a couple of weeks. I often do that with lagging lilies. I know it sounds weird, but you might try taking them from the ground and moving them inside to a warm sunny place. Then when they start to bloom, you can move them back outside.

Won't digging them up at that point throw them even more behind? And with all of our rain and mid 50 weather I don't know that there is much difference between my porches. One faces north east and the other south west. And I have this miserable two story duplex next door that is extraordinarily tall so it actually shades my front deck and sidewalk garden til about noon.

I find that if you prepare the pot first, take it outside, and then go out and dig up a clump of soil so large that it encompasses the entire lily with no root disturbance, and then immediately transfer it to the pot and water it, the lily doesn't "know" that it's been disturbed.

I did this with several lilies that were not going to bloom.

Would you think that your lilies will get more light (and warmth) even with sun from noon on? A pity we can't just pick up the duplex and move it somewhere else.

If it doesn't work, you can simply put the lilies back where they were.

Make sense?

Donna

Yup. I suppose bringing them inside would be too much shock. It would be very dry in the house compared with outside. If the sun would just come out it would make a huge difference.

The white lilies (of which I have a bunch) don't handle the rain very well. I even cut the stamens as soon as I can so they don't discolor the petals but they still get those brown spots from rain drops. Oh well. I just looked at my order for this year and have chosen lilies with color and that bloom earlier. If it says June, then I know it will probably be early July and so forth. No more August, much less, late August bloomers for me.

Thanks Donna.
Mary

I think you're smart to go with earlier lilies. It eliminated the frustration.

Well, I received my lilies from TLG. I was a bit disappointed in size until I realized that I had not ordered any OP's which have huge bulbs. And she substituted Peach Lace for Ariadne just saying it was hardier. Not sure about that but it is what it is so I will just go with it. She knows her flowers. I don't think it is as pretty as Ariadne but hopefully I will be surprised.

As I remember TLG has somewhat smaller bulbs than most but that never affected their blooming.

I was going to order Ariadne but did not. Peach would not have worked in my yard. I am still waiting for her to bring back Rosepoint Lace so I can order the two. They looked beautiful together.

Interesting - I went to TLG site and there is no reference to Ariadne being sold out. B&D always lets you know when something is sold out, to avoid disappointment.

I think Midsummer Eve would have been a better substitute. It's a hybrid of Ariadne that opens a bit later, and is in the same color family. But - it's $15 a pop.

It was no sold out. She chose to substitute. And Peach Lace is also a hybrid of Ariadne. Paid $30 for three tubers by mistake; was supposed to be $27 for three. Not a big deal. I really don't care for PL, at least those pictures. I noticed in the index that you cannot select it to go directly to the picture. You have to select peach colors to find it. I think it looks rusty but that could be the picture. Certainly not as lovely as Ariadne, or even Midsummer Eve. I like that one. It has that clean color closer to Ariadne. oh well. I am usually very happy with her bulbs.

She chose to substitute? Did she offer you that option? B&D offers that option. Am I understanding this correctly?

Wow!

I always say they can substitute if they are out, but in this case she chose to do it. I didn't know until they arrived. She had such a rough time last year that I am not that disappointed as to add a tittle or jot to her efforts this year. Maybe she knows something I don't and Ariadne wouldn't do well here like the speciosum. I do know that Iona has survived and bloomed although very small. Even smaller than White Butterflies. And I had ordered Ariadne two years ago and received Iona. Took me a year or so to figure it out. Maybe I am just not meant to have Ariadne. lol

Oh, OK, I'm glad I misunderstood. I never let them substitute because I always end up with a color I don't want. On the other hand, her freebies were regale, Coral Baby and Silk Road. Supposedly those were not my colors, but I lost both of them when I moved and I would love to have them back. Regale, unfortunately, was planted in the walnut bed.

Wow! My neighbor just came with a HUGE load of debris from his yard and dumped it under the despised walnut tree! Counting down the days to its death. The squirrels keep bring his walnuts to my front steps, cracking them open and leaving the debris, which stains. I'm going to have to have a talk with those guys.

I loved Rosepoint Lace and Ariadne in composition with Campanula Bernice and allium Christophii. I loved the mini riot.

Rosepoint Lace would bloom first, then Ariadne, and then they would be together. So cool! I love her lilies.

I like that combination. I will plant by my campanula also.

Well, my A&D lilies came in. Sort of. Two substitutions. Will have to see what I didn't get. The LA Hybrid Eyeliner bulbs are huge. Will do some investigations.

My last order didn't have liliums Silk Road or Mr. Cas. But I was babbling with Bob on the phone and added it to my order, so I think I distracted him. They did send me 5 Prince Promise, rather than the three I ordered.

My order from OHG came yesterday and I have a dilemma. The three lilium Candidums have sprouted. Normally they are sent in August but I got this note that it was OK to plant them now. Except that you are only supposed to plant them two inches deep and the sprouts are about that long. So how do I plant them? If I put the bulb two inches deep, there are those nice sprouts sticking out for the squirrels to play with. So I sent an email asking for instructions.

What are your substitutions?

Oh, and I got seed for Emerald Temple strain from the American Lily Society. Two packs for $2.00 each. I can't find mine (might be some of my few non-bloomers that got shaded out) and they are out of commerce. So what the heck!

I am embaressed to say that I ordered something called Rosy Dimple. the bulbs were undersized so they sent me Virunga instead. I like the substitution better. Virunga is an orienpet and worth more than what I ordered. Also got Eyeliner, Tessala and Lankon. Nothing too special.

I just went to their site and looked at your lilies. OK, Rosy Dimple is a bit much for a name, but you prefer virunga, so that's cool. I happen to think that Lankon is VERY special! Quite unique.

http://www.bdlilies.com/l8227.html

I just did a lily trade with BuggyCrazy. I sent her some scales from Tiramasu and three huge Razzle Dazzle bulbs (2-3" each). And she is sending me Elodie. Ground is really frozen down a few inches so it is a toss up between planting them in pots indoors or trying to chip down to plant them outside. I am concerned in that I don't want to plant them too deeply and yet the ground is at least 3" solid down. I can dig a larger hole and backfill with warm earth from the garage. Then mulch the tops. Damien did a great job of grinding up the last of the garden detritus, and five bags of leaves from the neighbors then spreading it over the front beds. I put the mulch over the back as I wanted to use a fair amount of it to bank my fences trying to keep the neighbors grass out. Darn stuff crawls under 4x4" timbers with newspaper and vizqueen. That is on the one side. The other just has some 4" edging but it is even less successful.

Wow, zone 5b up there is amazing. I am supposedly 5a, but since I moved the survival of my plants is better and I think I'm 5b. I actually put in my last peony today. Tourangelle.And my salvia Rose Sensations. It's so warm that next to my fading lily foliage (need to cut that back) Heritage burst into bloom. It is sometimes in the upper 30'w in the morning but it consistent;y goes up to the 60's. I put my red pepper plants into the garage at night and bring them out during the day once it warms up. My morning glories are still budding and blooming too.

We're at the point where the color is intense. I always think about pulling out the burning bushes until fall, when I rethink it. There is a first year carlesi in front of it, a first year acer griseum to the left, and you can see salvia elegans finally starting to bloom. My salvia mainacht is still going strong without pruning, and Morden Blush gave me a flower.

I see frost on the grass many mornings but it isn't sharp enough to freeze the plants, partcularly on the south side of the house.

I am beginning to think that we are a 4b. I know I can grow some zone 5 stuff and that my house is in a micro-climate for Anchorage but no way do we look like you do this time of year. So I shall change my zone to 4b to stop any confusion.

I think I'm really 5b. On the new horticultural maps it's a little fuzzy but it's possible. It's a tossup because last year was horribly cold but we had an almost Minnesota snowfall. I only lost my 'Pinky Bells'. I thought I lost three roses but they were just slow breaking from dormancy.

I'm going to go through another winter and then consider changing my designation to 5b.

Officially I'm zone 6 but I don't believe it, especially after last year . Since I'm aiming for low maintenance, I don't cosset my garden with extra winter protection.. There are plenty of plants that easily survive without extra help, so anything marginal that struggles or vanishes may be mourned, but is not replaced.

I do have some zone 6's though, Platycodon Miss Tilly for one, that have come back year after year. So I still gamble here and there, give them a chance to show me what they're really made of, lol.