Summer Lilies- I Can Dream, Can't I?

Well, we're in the dead of winter here in Iowa. The sun waits too long to appear and disappears quickly by late afternoon. My poor lilies are buried under snow and mulch. But I can dream of last summer's beauty...

They are beautiful. I like how you mixed the DL with the true lilies.
ROX

This message was edited Dec 31, 2005 3:11 PM

I mix dayliles with everything--perennials, annuals & whatever. The lilies like their feet shaded, so the daylilies oblige.

Here, Wanda.... Have another so you feel better. :)

Red Dutch

Hey, Moby: Where did you buy 'Red Dutch'? I just love it and your pic is fabulous!!!!

Wanda your lilies are beautiful as usual.

Moby please give up the info on where to purchase Red Dutch.

It came from Lily Nook in Canada. Do keep in mind that you pay about 25% less than their listed price due to the exchange rate. Happy winter daydreaming. :) http://www.lilynook.mb.ca/Catalog/Division8.htm#Orienpets

Thanks for the link!

Dizzy is an Oriental that escaped the ravages of bunnies & frost --only to be broken off at the ground by me (still in bud) when I was weeding!!!! :(

It was such a trooper that I took it inside to bloom. 4 blooms that lasted for days and scented the entire house!

Italia is one of my older lilies and multiplies quickly. I was surprised that although all the other lilies in the bed got eaten, the Italia stalks were strong and untouched. Why? Who knows?

My Coral Sunset (Asiatic) clump was short and only one stem escaped the bunnies--but the color was wonderful!

Picture Elmer Fudd in that old cartoon singing: "Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit..."

"Kill da WAAAB-bit....."

Edited to ask: What was that tune, anyway?? Ride Of The Valkyries?

Once again: LOL Yep, that's it. http://www.carolinaclassical.com/articles/wagnervalkyries.html

This message was edited Jan 2, 2006 6:46 PM

Wagner: Ride of the Valkeries! Yes, Moby, you would be correct! LOL!!!!

From the Chuck Jones Oscar winning cartoon "What's Opera Doc?"
A six hour Wagnerian opea condensed into 7 minutes. They don't make em like that any more! (Where's my wabbit spear???)

the lillies are beautiful.. i love Moby the red dutch to.. please don't kill the little wabbits.. so sweet to..

sweet little bunnies eat there young . they eat everything there small goats
Hmmmm ?
maybe they know something i missed
and while I'm upsetting all animal lovers ,
squirrels are big bushy tailed rats
PMS ? no ? " old and gripey " LOL

Sure, little bunnies are cute. Until they grow up and chomp off your fully-loaded-with-buds lilies.

Then you see them for what they really are: evil varmints with horns, huge vampire vangs and glowing bloodshot eyes.

Well, you could just do like my sister and I. I was helping dig her lilies to move to her new house and a cute little bunny came hopping right up to me and looked in the hole I was digging. My sister quietly asked me to catch him.....so I did.....I just reached out and grabbed him. He is now their first "farm type" animal and his name is Sweet William. She was gonna name him Lily until we found out it was a he. ;-) Here is a link to her garden diary which has a pic of him right after I caught him.

http://davesgarden.com/journal/d/t/got2Bgreen/1849/

edited to say: I didn't see ANY "horns, huge vampire vangs and glowing bloodshot eyes" on cute little Sweet William. Moby, how could you say such things? LOL

This message was edited Jan 4, 2006 12:30 AM

mgh: Sweet William does not appear to be of the 'vampire' variety. I suspect he was someone's escaped pet. Never-the-less...."Kill de wabbit, kill de wabbit, kill de waBIT, kill de waBIT.."

I don't post pics of 1/2 my poor lilies last year--buds eaten off as they emerged and no leaves up to 2 feet of stalk. Not a pretty sight. I'm going to be a maniac with repellent THIS year. Warm winter now--could be hundreds of the little buggers around by spring. No dogs loose & lots of garden sheds to breed under in this neighborhood...

Yes, sybiltwo, actually you are right. My sister found out later that it belonged to the kids of one of her co-workers. I guess their step-father got mad one day and let them (there were 2, but we could only catch one) go. She offered to give it back, but her co-worker said it was better off with her.

SEE?? Now you know why there were no tell-tale signs!

LOL!

I'm thinking I might need to know about rabbit repellent this spring, even though we have four outside cats.............

I've had good luck with dried coyote and fox urine. I realize it sounds gross, but I tried it and had very good luck with it. Also, the Liquid Fence works pretty well. I used both in combination this past season and it completely illiminated my rabbit problem. (Beats the heck out of Elmer Fudd, LOL)

I'd gladl;y let Elmer loose in my garden if that would get rid of the bunny problem...

Wanda, don't you have your own "Elmer"??

Yes--and just about as stupid sometimes too! He's a good shot, but we live in town & shooting rabbits is frowned on. Gotta poison the little buggers...

That's what air rifles are for, silly wabbit!

I think the neighbors would freak if they saw us pointing air rifles out into the yard. Nice thought, though.

I bit the bullet & ordered 2.2 pounds of plantskydd. They say it treats 500-600 plants. I'll be happy if it keeps the bunnies at bay.

I saw above someone was interested in Red Dutch. My favorite place to buy lilies is Ednie, and their retail site is Wooden Shoe Bulb Farm. They have Red Dutch 18-20 cm , at 25 for $48.91. Granted that is a lot of lilies, but if you have someone to go in on it, that is a great price. I have been ordering from Ednie for years, and their bulbs are fantastic, and always true to name. (If looking this up on Gardenweb, be sure to look up Wooden Shoe Bulb Farm, not bulb co., two different companies, or better yet look up Ednie, and go to retail site). Polly



This message was edited Feb 11, 2006 11:52 AM

I planted Asiatic lilies for the first time ever last spring. I adored them. I bought White Flower Farm's "Strawberries and Cream" collection and planted them in the spring. I used many of them in bouquets before I heard that if more than 1/3 of the stem is cut, they won't come back. Is that true?

Hi missgarney ~ welcome to DG.

No, it's isn't that they won't come back but they may not give you quite the display that you had before. It's best to leave as much of the stem (cutting not more than 1/3) as possible so that it can continue it's photosynthesis and store energy for subsequent bloom.

Hope that helps ~

Moby--the lily queen?

No, no.... perhaps just a 'lady in waiting'. :)

I'm waiting too--for the snow to come down and trap me in CR instead of heading for Vegas this weekend. :(

Moby, thanks for the clarification. It means I may or may not have a decent show of lilies this summer, and I'm not sure I'm willing to take the chance of NOT having the gorgeous pink ones. Where's that catalog?

I was impressed with how quickly after planting the Asiatic lilies came up last year; is that typical?

Does one get much better results planting in the fall rather than the spring, or is it just a matter of earlier bloom time?

She's getting hooked, I can tell.

heh, heh!

Ms. G ~ you better order extra so you have plenty for cutting. ;)
Yes, it's amazing how quickly lilies take off when they're planted in the Spring. I find you get taller stems with fall planting but either way, the first season of bloom is usually not as spectacular as it will be in following years.