What was your most fragrant lily this year?

Wow...that's pretty! It's filled in nicely for being only a year old.

It's still raining so I can't take any pix. I also can't complain about the rain. We've been so dry here that it's music to my ears.

Okay---it stopped raining. This is the area that I'm hoping to transform next spring. The gate and sidewalk will go. The bed will go from the side door around the corner to the back door. It'll be six to eight feet deep with a few stepping stones so that I can get back in there to weed. You can't see it but next to the side door I put in a fragrant abelia this year (it's tiny). I'll probably put a Hummingbird clethra next to the back door because that area is wet near the hose. The rest of that area is average moisture. The new bed will be sloped away from the house but the front of the border will be raised.

The gallardia certainly looks smashing!

Thanks, magnolialover. There will be a narrow path between that bed and the new one. This is what the perennial/annual bed looked like last month but it's starting to wane now:

Looks like your area is ripe for the planting! And you have a screen door on ground level so you can put something smelly there for the door to bang into ~ like lavender. Now tell us what those pretty plants are in the pic above....

Is it foxglove? And mums maybe?

I spy Bee Balm and Phlox! ;) LOL

The annuals in the front are Argyranthemum 'Fireball Red' and Angelonia Serena Purple. The bells behind them are Penstemon Phoenix Red and Phoenix Violet. From this angle you can barely see the Red Ruffles coleus behind them. Then there's Monarda 'Grand Marshall', Phlox 'Starfire' and 'David'. On the right is Gaillardia 'Oranges and Lemons', 'Goblin', and 'Arizona Sun'.

I think that a half dozen 'Shocking' would look nice in the new bed across from this bed. I want to line the new bed with lavender. I really like strongly-scented plants--that's why I'm looking for lilies. Maybe some lilies, salvia, lavender, and either more 'David' phlox or some cactus-flowered zinnias.

Just so you know ~ where aren't many lavender cultivars that are hardy in our zones. Munsted has done very well for me and I like it's fragrance the best. Grosso (aka Fat Spike) is fantastic and has large flower spikes that keep their scent for a very long time after drying ~ like 2 or 3 years. I lost it once before but it was a rough winter and lost a few other things.

Yeah, I have Munsted and it's done well this year but we've had a drought. Our spring freeze this year killed my Coral bark Jap maple (tears fell). My main issue with lavender is that our top soil is very rich and deep with clay underneath. I can usually push my zone a little bit but I don't like to do that because occasionally we have really cold winter temps. I'm technically on the 5b edge of 5b/6a but I live in a large city so it's warmer and the brick on our house seems to warm things up even more. Last year we even had Oxalis (zone 8) overwinter by our fireplace (it was very close to our foundation). That's not normal but it does happen sometimes. I've thought about trying Jasmine on the south side of the house near our dryer vent. Just to see what happens.

If I do a border of lavender I'll probably have to add a lot of sand to the soil. If anyone has any ideas on combinations of fragrant flowers that I can put in the new bed with the lilies--please let me know! I'm still early in the planning phase. I won't plant it until next spring.

I'm sure it will turn out beautiful - look at what you've done already!

Moby - fantastic job!

How much sun do you get there?

Thanks Pirl.

This message was edited Sep 27, 2007 7:08 PM

The side of the house faces SSW and the back of the house faces NWW. The new bed will have morning shade. The closer the plants are to the house, the more shade they'll have from the wide eaves. But it all gets at least 6 hours a day. The perennial/annual bed only has a few hours of shade in the morning from the house. The other side of the house is shady. I'll tackle that in a few years.....

What did you use for edging for your shade garden? It looks nice. I'm stumped for ideas of what to use. I want to just mulch everything and put down some nice slate stepping stones but hubby is insisting that I put edging in next year. I've never edged a garden before so I don't know much about it. I need something somewhat inexpensive.

Bricks ~ they were used as edging in front of the rose. They were many and set on point so I pulled them out and found a few more around and managed to stretch it out to the far corner of the house.

Not sure if there is any way to edge on the cheap unless you have stuff around the house. I've used rocks, seashells, etc..

The nice part of using bricks, stones, etc. is that you can move them to expand gardens.

I would like to offer a suggestion to consdider Geisha Girl you adore pink, are looking for a wonderful fragrance and prefer not to sport freckles on your face if you are inclined to draw your face close to the flower. I wish my photo could do this gem justice...will add another close up photo of the petals in hopes to provide better view of the color. The fragrance, while very strong, is sweet and harmonious blend with absolutely no overpowering bite. The classic scent we adore in many of our oriental cultivars is evident. However, there are sweet undertones of fresh vanilla bean and just a hint almond in the blend. There is something else in the fragrance that I have yet to figure out....hopefully by next year.....

This is a close up of the coloring of Geisha Girl.....the color is rich...but still has a softness to it. This was my first season of experience with this cultivar which was grown in a container. The total height was 33 1/2 " with 5 blooms ranging from 9 1/2 -10"....had to secure this girl as she was a little top heavy.

i tryed to look it up for my want list and i can not find it....and i also googled it; does it have another name?

V: you should be a writer for catalog descriptions. You had me drooling.

Where did you buy it?

Hubby isn't too fond of pink so I wouldn't want to use it in that garden. BUT, I'll also be doing a soft pink garden somewhere else in the yard where that would be perfect. Please tell me where I can find this beauty!

velnita: it might make a good combination with Sumatra. That one is gorgeous and a dark wine color. Might even make the "manly" touch your DH might like.

Ahhhh...but does Sumatra have a strong fragrance? I have a very poor sense of smell so I garden for scent more than anything else. Besides, my dad loves the fragrances when he visits (my father is legally blind).

Hubby doesn't mind me having a pink garden off to the side. So far, it'll have a back drop of three tall boxwoods called Buxus 'Green Tower', then maybe the Geisha Girls, then two 'Edulis Superba' peonies and lining the front maybe Dianthus 'First Love'. I have the boxwoods and will be planting the peonies next month--the rest are just ideas right now. If the Sumatras have a strong scent, it might be nice to have them flank the sides of the bed. Oh....I love ideas!

Victorianblue, I am so happy to see your 'Geisha Girl' posting . It's beautiful. Mine turned out a bit more pale, but I would still have to agree with your description.
The Japanese Hybrids sold by Faraway Flowers ('Geisha Girl' being one of them) last spring were some of the most unique colored, wonderfully fragrant, unusual lilies that I have ever seen. I know she just sells in the spring.
Here's the site. I think she puts her spring selections on there October later or November. I certainly look forward to those offerings.
http://farawayflowers.vstore.ca/

Oh yeah, Faraway Flowers... oh so cool.. :)

My sincerest appreciation for everyones sharing of thoughts & response about Geisha Girl...this was my first post.

I purchased the bulb via eBay from a seller known as Faraway Flowers...it was a dutch style auction I believe. The bulb was grown in a pot this season. The bulb was of good size and appeared healthy. But I opted to give her a quick dip in a mild solution of Physan20 as we were still seeing high humidity and rain when planting season was here. For the planting medium, I used Fox Farm's 'Ocean Floor' with just enough Big & Chunky Pearlite & Coco Coir to allow for good drainage & nutrient uptake(hope that made sense). Now, instead of going the standard route and using Bulb Food, I decided to take a chance and try something different...I know you will think I am daffy for even attempting to do so. But I just wanted to see what I could do by tweaking the routine a bit.
Up until the bulb decided to peak through the soil, I supplied her with a little 'Root Juice" which is root and growth stimultor made by Omri which is a Dutch Company. I then began ' Open Sesame' until I noticed a bud set. I then switched on over to 'Beastie Bloomz'. I don't think it was but maybe 1 1/2 -2 wks or so when the flowers were formed up. I then switched to the 'Cha Ching'. I need to note that I did use Spray & Grow in between the fertilizing times. What resulted, was a beautiful Lily with beautiful color and frangrance. OK, I am ready for the scolding...

What ever you did or did not do, it's beautiful! Faraway Flowers is one of my favorite place to purchase bulbs.

Yeah, and I can't wait till they open up with all their new stuff! :)

Velnita,

All of the suggestions are great and I agree that you have a terrific house - lots of character, which makes any planting more interesting! For fragrance, "Silk Road" is another Orienpet that has a strong, fabulous scent and is heat/humidity tolerant. Here are some of mine this year - and they DO need staking by 2nd or 3rd year as heights of 6-7 feet are not uncommon:

Gorgeous, Steve. Absolutely divine!

Thanks pirl - I have always admired your pictures and landscaping skills. :-)

Steve

Thank you, Steve. How many bulbs did you plant and did it take the second year (or more) until they got to that height?

The ones you see in the picture were transplanted from the house I sold and moved out of last fall. I replanted them at our new place last autumn. They had bloomed for three seasons at the old place as I planted them in the fall of 2003, and reached 7 ft in that 3rd year (summer '06). I was surprised that they were as tall as they were this summer - the fence you see in the background is 8 ft high and the plants reached about 6' 6". The bulbs were quite large however and I was careful when I moved them.So, I would say 6-7 feet in 3 years is a good bet. They were 4-5 ft tall in their 2nd year probably and maybe 3-4 feet 1st year. The clump you see started as 3-4 bulbs and since developed a bunch of smaller offsets, and I planted them together.

I took some others as well from the old house and planted them in a separate area a few feet away - here they are:

Wow! That's tall but then you ARE in Texas!

:-) Once in awhile that's the case!!

I haven't been to Fort Worth but I've been to San Marcos, the surrounding wonderful German towns (and the great BBQ), San Antonio and Austin. Loved the Bob Bullock Museum but the main road in Austin, leading up to the capitol, is the widest I've ever seen in any major city. We learned it was where they herded the cattle, for sale, I'd guess.

Your Silk Roads are beautiful. Last year I ordered 6 Silk Roads and 6 Casa Blancas. I was always kinda neutral about lilies. Then they bloomed. I was instantly hooked. Now I want MORE. I was so impressed. Even hubby loved them. I'm going to order more Silk Roads and Casa Blancas to expand those beds as well as different lilies that I'll make other beds for (like the breakfast nook bed).

Since this was my first year with the lilies, I didn't stake anything. This may seem silly, but I don't know how to stake anything (I put dahlias in this year and didn't stake them since I really didn't know how---this didn't turn out too well). If I push a stake in the ground, won't it damage the bulb? How close do I stake it? I'm really nervous about poking things in the ground near the lilies. Once I put the stakes in, do I leave them there year round or do I need to take them out in the winter? Is it best to put the stakes in when you plant the lilies? What do you use for stakes?

Ummmmm....can you tell that I'm a newbie when it comes to staking?

velnita, it is easiest to put the stake in when you plant the bulb. Then , you will always know that it isn't hitting the bulb. I leave the stakes up all winter. I have hit a bulb and the worst sound you ever want to hear is that crunch sound that the stake makes when splitting your 'Silk Road' bulb. Also, planting a bulb a little bit deeper (deeper than the 6 inches) can help a bulb to be stable, I have found.

I use bamboo stakes. Not the green ones, but the thicker ones that actually look like bamboo, not the ones that are thinner and painted green that are available in almost every garden center across the country. Those green things like one year here, and by winter's snowy end, it has almost composted itself in my soil. Some people use thin metal stakes as well. Whatever your preference, the more solid the construction, the more apt it is to be placed just once and last for years.

I hope that helps.

Excellent advice!

You're so nice to say that pirl ;)

Yeah Velnita aren't they great? The reward is what brought the rest of us back for more! And lilies are SO easy to grow and return so well.....I don't know why they're not as popular as narcissi are.

Magnolia's advice is great. I use the green hard plastic stakes I buy at Home Depot, and they last season after season so I can reuse them. The ones in my picture are plastic. I don't like using the wire ties with them as I'm always worried the tie will slice into the stem of the plant when the wind blows or the flowers weight down the stem. So I found some tacky white tape but oh well no one can see from a distance!

If you already have your bulbs planted, insert the stake at a slight angle with the part that goes into the ground angling away from the direction of the stem. You'll be unlikely to stab the bulb that way. I usually try that approach and it works. You can still anchor your stake to the stem most of the way up if you get the angle right.

I HAVE stabbed by lily bulbs several times, especially in my earlier years of bulb gardening, when I carelessly dug and forgot I had something down there. Actually I can't say "earlier" as I planted some Calla seeds just a few weeks ago that my plants produced into an area of my bed I thought was empty, and I sliced a daffodil bulb in half - so you're never too old or young to learn the hard way!!!