Lily Lovers Look here!

Ron, yes I must have that one! The size of the blossoms alone will stop you in your tracks. Guess I just didn't know what I was looking for at the bulb sale. Well, I couldn't afford all of them anyway and had gone way over budget as DH now knows!

chrissy, sorry it has taken me a long time to answer. I was only well enough to read about 2 threads the last few days and then I was worn out. Am better now. If it normally gets 'colder' in Jan and Feb I would go ahead and put them in the ground as soon as you are able. Otherwise watch for molding because of moisture levels in the fridge.

The cold weather has something to do with good root formation prior to blooming. Just an idea here, but iowaron can tell me if I'm on track or not. I think the reason spring planted bulbs don't flower as well is because they are blooming from stored fuel reserves and haven't the established roots to feed the bulb, much less the flower stem.

Good thing you got those locks on. Our horses got loose one morning several years ago. The lady of the house got up to get a drink of water and found an eye looking in her kitchen window. Bad Horsie!

Here is a photo of my lily bed early spring before anything is blooming(alliums excepted)! I think all the foliage types so healthy and green are attractive even all by themselves.

Llilyfan, you are exactly on target with your advise on spring planted lily bulbs. The picture of your spring lily bed sure gets me to longing for Spring! You can sure tell that is not "store bought" fertilizer making such healthy and lush foliage. Thanks for sharing your gardening knowledge and great pictures. You make this thread a bright and colorful spot in Dave's Garden.
Iowaron

TwinLakesChef, You've got mail.

Thanks Ron, it is coming up on the time when I will long to see that green promise coming awake from its winter rest. I've been to busy to do too much longing as of yet. Those horses do come in handy for things other than riding. I have a pile that will be 1 1/2 years old this spring and I believe I can put it to good use.

'Cancun' is an eye catching Asiatic, particularly when left alone to form a sizable clump. Although the fragrance is negligible, the colors seem to stand up well in the hot sun.

I really like the Golden rayed Lily of Japan you posted Iowaron - thanks for sharing. Been busy getting ready for a houseful this week - will visit with you all after the first of the year!

Hi all,
Sue you have a great thread going here; I have been watching! Ron, got your email and you are now on the mailing list for the Spring Iowa Round-up. DGers from
Iowa are growing by leaps and bounds!

We are even considering an Iowa only co-op to buy plants
at good prices. We often times get killed by the postage.
But if we did a co-op and had it delivered to Brugie's, we could all drive there to pick up our plants ( another excuse for a get together!).
regards,
a

Thanks Iowagal and TwinLakesChef, Looking forward to meeting you all at the Round-Up! Meanwhile, here's another very fragrant Trumpet lily, 'Golden Splendor'. This is one of those lilies that makes you glad that you are alive and able to get out to the garden. Weeds don't have a chance to grow very much around 'Golden Splendor', because that section of the garden lures you there with the fragrance, then while you are there, just as well pull those few baby weeds in order to stay a little longer.
IowaRon

PS: That's 'Regale', a Trumpet Species lily behind the 'Golden Splendor'. As you can see, 'Regale' opens later in the season than the early blooming 'Golden Splendor'. That's the joy of planting several varieties together. As one is finishing it's bloom season, another is starting. Here is 'Regale' in bloom. It is fragrant, but not nearly as much as 'Golden Splendor'.
IowaRon

Now that's one I lust for!

Ron, I think I'm going to have to get a job! Those are gorgeous!!!

Oh Llilyfan, I can't wait to see your gardens this summer!
I know that you have some drop dead gorgeous lilies also.
Ron

Hi all and Merry Christmas! Lilyfan suggested I checkout the bulb forum so I did and saw beautiful pics of lilies. I have a question. How soon do orientals throw up more shoots. My Marco Polos are now 4 yrs. old and I still only get 3 stalks, one from each bulb. I bought them on clearance at Walmart for 75 cents (5 bulbs) so was quite pleased when 3 came up. This year they were a foot taller than other years - I think because of the unusually cool wet spring we had. They get full shade in the middle part of the day and the fragrance just about makes you want to sit out front all day long. According to the label, they are supposed to form a clump over the years. Anyone know how long it takes them to start spreading?

Sorry I 'misspoke'. It was Iowaron that suggested I read the bulb thread. sorry about that!

kooger, almost all of my bulbs have increased by the second year. The newest stalks don't usually bloom for me the first year, but after that wowsers. That first photo I posted was a clump that was 3 years old.I started with 3 bulbs. My 'Hot Lips isn't doing near as well and seems to be shrinking each season. This year I started using an acid type fertilizer along with my leaf mold mulch and horse-by-product compost. We'll see what happens.

Thanks Ron. It is hard to be a beginning gardener waiting for the time that mine will be a knock your socks off garden like some I saw this summer! My gardens still have that 'new, not yet settled in' look about them.

I found one Marco Polo pic and had my son scan it in. Hope it works! laura

That is a very pretty one, Kooger. I always put a handfull of bone mean per bulb, actually I measure it with a coffee scoop since it holds about the same as a closed hand, it helps with root formation, and good roots would probably mean more babies and more stalks. You might try lifting them up when the ground thaws enough to get a shovel into it and adding some if you don't think that would disturb the roots too much, or wait until after they go to sleep next fall and do it then.

Thanks for the advise MaryE. I will try to work some in around them this spring. I think that pic is from 2002. I know I took close-ups of them this summer when 7 or 8 were open at the same time but I guess they are in a 'safe place'. Man I hate them 'safe places' sometimes! :-)

kooger, really nice lilies. I don't have those either. Yep, think I'm going to have to get a job! I know what you mean about them 'safe places'. LOL

Happy New Year to everyone, and to "Harold" in the New Year just right, nothing beats a bright and shining Trumpet! (Trumpet Lily, of course :-)
This trumpet lily, 'Iowa Snowflakes' is the work of a wonderful friend, Mrs. Jayne Venard. She named and registered this and six other big beautiful trumpet lilies. Jayne is the President of the Iowa Regional Lily Society www.irls.org and an extremely knowledgeable "Liliarian".
Good Health and Much Happiness be yours in the New Year
Ron

Ron & Sue,

All the lilies between the two of you! We may have to do an Iowa field trip to see them in person!

regards
a

sounds exciting! I just found out that there is a garden with over 400 iris varieties just 30 miles from me. I WILL be making a road trip! He was my history prof in college, many moons ago! Can't wait for spring! :)

I vote yes to Ron's place, I'm drooling and thinking of accepting a job offer I recieved! Just gotta have em all!

hello everyone..and happy new year!!!! ron ur lilies are lovely... i can almost smell them from here...lol ..(: lilyfan sorry i havent written back either... i have been sooo busy ... on Christmas day we had one heck of a storm.. wind was blowing from all directions... when we got home Christmas night my pepper tree was blown straight over... it wasnt damaged thankfully, prob because its still young. but i about died when i saw that beautiful tree blown over.. hubby had to hook a chain to it and hold it up with his truck till the next morning... but thats all fixed now... and i put those lilies in the ground several days ago.. a couple of my sisters bought me some garden decor for Christmas and i had noticed while placing some of it around that two of my daffodils bloomed!!! (: the ones i planted around two of my rose bushes to keep the dreaded ever eating gophers away from the last two out of six that i had. they smell so sweet (the daffs that is) but the "rose/gopher" bed was full of weeds... i let it go when the gophers ate all my roses...so all because of these two daffodil flowers blooming i went out there and weeded the entire thing.. i am not sure of the size ( i havent measured it) but it is rather large.. well after breaking my back weeding it, the bed needed definition.. so i took a bunch of thinner long logs and trimed around the bed.. that really made it look like it was suppose to be a flowerbed.. then i tilled it all up and planted 3 new rose bushes since the gophers have stayed away from my roses with the daffodils around it, moved my everblooming gardenia (that hasnt bloomed for me due to too much shade) and i kept thinking, where can i put these lilies in here.. so i went to my hubbys scap wood pile and found some concrete form boards he had used that he had pre-cut, i screwed those together and put it in the bed..planted the lilies in that.. i have to paint the raised bed ( i know i should have done it before i planted the lilies, but i was too impatient) i think i may do some woodburning on it and then stain it in a light brown stain.. i think it will look better stained to match the wood border of the flower bed..i'll put a pic below , but mind u it is a bed in progress!!!! (:
did everyone get what they wanted from santa this year??? i asked my hubby for a 14" chainsaw so i can trim these trees without hurting my back using my jig (it kills my neck) and i also wanted a couple router bits so i can make decorative edges on some of my raised beds and woodburt signs... anyway he bought me a whole set of 30.. with a dovetail bit and all these neat edge bits... i am really excited , i cant wait to try it out.. (:
ok here is the pic of the bed as it sits now... dont mind the wood pile behind it and the leach tanks and pipes.. those are for our house and will be outta there hopefully today!!!! (:
chrissy

here is a closer look at the lily bed in the flowerbed...what would u guys suggest as a companion flower for the lilies in this bed.. this bed will get FULL sun and i need to plant something infront of the lilies (in the raised bed) to shade the roots and lowers stems?

chrissy, so good to see you back. What a lot of work! Since I am design deficient I am looking forward to suggestions on companion plants also and may steal some of the suggestions that come your way. I am looking forward to the eye feast coming up in your gardens, keep the camera handy so you can share.

Right now I have a few companion plants that I put in last fall so won't know how they blend in until blooming season.
Globe thistle, shasta daisy(crazy daisy), moonbeam coreopsis, russian sage. I still want to put in some Japanese anemone, some agastache, and some gaura ( both 'lindheimeri' & 'siskiyou pink'). I know that these are mostly tall plants so they might not help in front of your lilies.

Well I'll talk to you later, going to go for our new year's ride and see if the wind can blow us away. So happy you could save your pepper tree.

Later, Sue

has anyone been to home depot lately??? i went there a day or so after Christmas and they have summer bulbs in already!!! they have glads galore and i couldnt believe my eyes, they hade oriental lilies!!!!!! of course i could not resist... is there such a thing as too many lilies??? i think the price was quite good for what u get!!! here i got 3 of these in a pack for 2.93 and the sizes of the bulbs are good...

here is another i got.. berlin..

here is a pack of mixed..

look what else i got!!!! my very first daylily!!!! lol..

oh hi lilyfan i didnt see ur post when i was posting the pics... sorry about that... yes i am back i have been keeping up with the posts when i had a little bit of time to spare, but havent had the time to write one of my long books on this thread..lol. i am not totally sure all what i want in this bed.. i guess i will just do it as i go... along with the pics i just posted of the lilies i got i got a bunch of glads and some lily of the valley, oh and two types of clementis... i just want to get the colors all together so something doesnt throw it off.. most of the stuff i have in the bed now (decor) is not staying there ... i just have them there for now... the bird feeder will be hung when the wind quits being so unpredictable... the old half log will stay but maybe moved around somewhere else.. i dont know yet.. i have a baby lilac also i want to transplant in the bed but i am not sure if its the yellow or the purple.. i dont know when it will bloom so i guess i will put it where it will look good either color... anyway i am looking forward to peoples opinions on compainion flowers... i will have to go look up what u have and see if i can fit them in..(: also i have some gardening magz. that i think talk about companion flowers for all sorts of bulbs.. think i will go look that up now.. take care and enjoy ur ride!!! dont get too caught up in the winds.. they may just blow u to my place...lol
chrissy

cici77, A companion plant for lilies that we have often used as a round cover for both moisture retention and to keep the soil cool is the Rose Moss:
Iowaron

Culture Rose Moss (Portulaca)

Light: Full sun

Propagation: Seeds, spring sow where they grow. Need light to germinate, surface sow in well drained soil. Keep 70-85 degrees, germination occurs in 14-21 days.

Soil and Fertility: Dry, sandy soil of low fertility. Give it the toughest place in the garden, where nothing else will grow.

Hardiness: All over the US


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Rose Moss is a great nectar plant. One of those "cantkillitdigitoutoftheshrubgardenandplantitinthebutterflygarden" kinda plants. They transplant easily when they escape the lily bed, so I never worry about them popping up in the garden path.

Ron, I was just looking at my seed list for this year and I have moss rose on it! Must have been esp! I love those little plants and had planned on putting them in the iris bed, will now add them to the lilies also, especially the new beds.

chrissy, had a great ride, the wind was blowing us the other direction though.
Can one have too many lilies, I don't believe it is at all possible to do that. There are so many I want and there is always room to pop another bulb in here and there throughout the beds. Those will be gorgeous in the summer. Oh how I wish we weren't in the middle of our winter. I'm so jealous that you are able to be planting and working in your beds. Our ground is not frozen so I could be planting if I could find some bulbs! I think the end is coming though, supposed to get down to 10 Sat. night and be cold all week. Oh well, this is Iowa.

thank ron!!! those are soooo cute!!!! i just love them plus i think they will tie in my green glads and purple and yellow glads since they are all different colors... thanx again so much!!! oh now i am even more excited!!!! (:

lilyfan i feel ur pain about wanting spring and summer to come... yes we have been very lucky this year with our weather... we have had cold windy days that u just cant work in even though the sky is blue but the wind chill is soooo cold and as fast and hard as that wind blows it just takes ur breath away... today was beautiful out.. but wierd weather.. it went from beautiful blue skys and climbing up in the temp to this haze and a chilly breeze then no breeze and bright warm sunshine... the sunset todaywas unreal!!!! i just had to post a pic of it.. the ENTIRE sky was like this.. all of a sudden the skys went from a darkening sky to this bright warm orange glow over all of the property.. u could actually feel the warmth of this orange glow..
i finished the lily bed in the flowerbed.. i used my hubbys high powered drill and a wire wheel and aged the wood of the lily bed.. then stained it.. i'll have to take a pic tomarrow of it and post it.. anyway enjoy the sunset...(: oh and lilyfan i will plant some bulbs for u in the next few days..(:
chrissy

another one...(:
chrissy

awesome sunset!

You're right Kooger, only the Creator has the paint brush to fill the sky like that!
Llilyfan and cici77, thanks for your comments about the often overlooked Portulaca. What a colorful, almost care-free ground cover, that enhances the flower bed and serves a purpose at the same time.
Ron

Ron, I've always been amazed by the beautiful colours in flowers, sunset, etc. Can't figure out how one can not believe in the Creator........We had portulaca on the south side of the porch every year when I was a kid. It always reseeded itself and I kind of forgot how easy they were. Thanks for the reminder. I'll put some in this year!

I'm planning to use portulaca as a ground cover in the bird/butterfly area that I'll be developing this spring. Glad to hear butterflies really do like it, since I had never heard of it as a butterfly plant.

I'm not real good at starting things from seed ... are these the 'throw-it-out-there-and-it-will-grow' type? LOL Or should I plan to buy lots of baby plants? When it re-seeds itself, do you get the variety of colors? Or do they revert back to something else (like impatiens eventually do)?

Cheri'

From what I remember we always had lots of colour and we never reseeded. I have seen them in flats at nurseries. Maybe Ron knows more - some things you remember from childhood aren't as accurate as you think they are? :)