I was looking at getting African Queen and/or Midnight but was wondering about this (strain) thing. Since I am not quite sure what a strain is I was wondering how reliably these bloom orange and purple? Pictures would be great :*)
African Queen and Midnight your experience with these please
Midnight bloomed for me the first time last summer and it was a long way from being purple. I think it may have been the heat here at the time that it bloomed. Pretty, but not purple. Here is a link to a photo of it:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=2784873
Interesting, kinda looks like Pink Perfection. Lily Pad is selling them for $4.99 so I thought I might givem a go. Looking for some trumpet color in my yard :*)
It is a far bit from Purple though...
I purchased a Midnight strain from the Lily Pad at a garden show here. It came out looking more like Summer Palace or Amethyst Temple. Remember it is a strain and can be quite variable, depending on how the grower selects the specimens to sell.
I can appreciate what is meant by the term strain ~ my African Queen is a bit paler than some but you would take one look at it and know what it is. On the other hand, my Midnight is nearly identical to Pink Perfection and not at all purple.
The stores are "straining" to justify calling Midnight purple :*)
I got Midnight from The Lily Garden 2 years ago and like Moby said my Midnight is nearly identical to Pink Perfection and not at all purple. I e-mailed them about it and they said it was due to the temperature and amount of light, but it looked the same this year too!
I'm new to lilys and was wondering, is there a clone of midnight available or only strains?
Maureen
I haven't seen the dark clone available in quite some time. It was either the Lily Garden or B & D that had it. I have to wonder if it was selected and propagated by the grower and is no longer available. That would be too bad. Maybe in time I can come up with a dark purple trumpet in my seedling patch. With all this interest I could even get rich off of it!!
By the way, the Lily Register describes the strain as crosses of various aurelian trumpets and L. leucanthum var. centifolium, which is a white lily.
Count me in , Pard.
This is my first year for lilies. Do they need to settle in the first year? I planted African Queen and it grew to be over 4 ft tall but it did have one bloom! Is this normal or do I need to do something?
Teresa in KY
Did any others bloom?
Lilies do take a year to get settled but usually bloom the first year, with more blooms in subsequent years.
Yes, the ones that you purchased for me bloomed very well. How many years will it take to have little bulblets? If that is the right term.
Yes, that's correct. Asiatics are fairly quick to make bulblets, with some cultivars more prolific than others. Orientals are comparatively slow making bulblets.