Zone 6 or colder: How have your Orienpets performed?

I tried my first Orienpets last spring,3 'Shocking' and 3 'Visaversa'. The 'Visaversa' were mislabled and turned out to be white Orientals and were replaced this spring. The 'Shocking' had nice first year blooms last year, but only one returned this spring and is too small to bloom. The bed is sandy and well drained, no critters appear to have been burrowing around, and the Asiatics and Orientals in the same bed look wonderful. Along with the replaced 'Visaversas' I added 'Orania', 'Red Hot', and 'Silk Road' this spring and all are budding and look great so far. Have any of you experienced winter loss of Orienpets? I'm wondering if the Easter lily genes in some of them may comprimise their hardiness.

Hmmm, I don't know if I have "orienpets" (I'm new-ish to the site) but I do know that my oriental type lillies of all sizes are doing pretty well here in the zone 5-6 area.

I planted 3 Orienpet Boogie Woogie either in the fall of 2003 or spring of 2004. They were only about 2 1/2 feet tall last year and had one or two blooms each. This year they are about five feet tall and have at least seven buds on each one. They are planted against the north side of my house. It isn't a great location since they don't get much direct sun but they look healthy and are very sturdy and upright. I am in zone 5b but I think being right next to the house creates a slightly warmer microclimate. These are my first Orienpets but they sure won't be my last.

LuLuLocks, the Orienpets(kind of a silly sounding term) are the fairly recent group of hybrids between the Orientals and the Trumpet lilies. I've been really drawn to them because they have brought more yellows, oranges, and reddish tones into the big, fragrant lilies. Some have Chinese trumpet parentage, which are hardy, but some have Easter lily parentage(hardy to zone 7). And welcome to Dave's Garden! You'll love it, everyone here is great.

NoH2O, that's good to hear. The spot your Orienpets are in is probably about a zone warmer, but should be similar to mine, and it sounds like they are establishing themselves well. 'BoogieWoogie' is the soft yellow with a pink edge is'nt it? I would love to see a pic when they bloom; I bet they will be really nice this year for you. All of my lilies are in some degree of partial shade to(I'm deep in the woods and have few spots of 'full sun'), and all seem to be thriving.

I also planted one 'American West' last fall, and it's up and has a bud. Only got one since they were $8 each. I had forgotten about that one, but it appears to be quite hardy.

Yes, Boogie Woogie is soft yellow with a soft red/pink edge. Last year 2 out of my 3 bulbs bloomed solid soft yellow with no edge coloring. I don't know if that was because it was their first year or the odd weather (endless rain) or if they will do the same this year. I will try to get a picture of them in bloom for you.

I just realized that I planted 3 more Orienpets last fall. Duh!! I planted one each of American Dream, American Spirit and American Style. They are in the same bed as Boogie Woogie and it appears that they will be fairly short this first year just like BW was its first year.

I wonder if the Orienpets will multiply rapidly like the Trumpets do or hardly increase at all like the Orientals.

Oooh, love the American series! Would love to see pics of those when they bloom to. I've been hearing that 'Silk Road' multiplies quickly, but that's the only Orienpet I've heard that about. Most of them are fairly recent introductions, so there's not very many of us who have established clumps yet.

Have any of you been eyeing 'Luminaries'? It's really nice, but is still selling for $15-$20 each and I'm too cheap for that.

If you really want to drool, check out Judith Freeman's offerings at The Lily Garden. They're a little pricy, but she sells great lilies.

I see that Wayside carries 'Luminaries'. I am on their mailing list and frequently at the end of the season they will reduce items by 40% to 75%. I got a $30 Arisaema candidissimum for about $8 that way. I will have to watch for it in future newsletters.

Lily Garden also has end of season sales.

Good to know. Thanks, Moby. :^}

My 'American West' has but one bud (hoped for more than that for $8!). That was from White Flower Farm. However of the 5 'Red Hot' from Brent and Becky's, 1 has 3buds and the other 4 have 5 buds each and are about 4' tall! Hope that's a good sign of what to expect next year.

My American Spirit was not very tall last year, but made it through the winter fine is is about 6 foot tall now. Can't wait for it to bloom. It still only has one blooming sized stalk. This photo was taken about a week ago. You can see how much taller it is than the Lollipop lilies.
Susan

This message was edited Jun 22, 2005 4:24 PM

That is going to be gorgeous. I am looking forward to seeing pictures of yours since I planted one last fall. It is only a couple of feet tall this year but I know it will be a giant in 2006!

Wow Susan that is a tall lily. Can't wait to see it!

Susan that's going to be amazing! Got to see pics of that when it blooms. That gives me great hope for my 'American West' next year.