I have a spot where I would love to put some white and pale pink fragrant oriental lilies. However, it doesn't get any shade at all until about four in the afternoon although the bed is well-mulched. Would that be too hot for orientals?
Also is there a site that lists oriental lilies in the order in which they bloom and their relative vigor? If possible I would like to spread out the fragrance and the beautiful show as much as possible and I also would prefer lilies that have a good track record of health over the latest and showiest thing.
The few lilies I have are planted where they get good afternoon shade but they aren't where I can easily enjoy them nearly as often as I would like.
Healthy, fragrant lilies in full sun?
Hi prairiefire, welcome to DG and the lily forum!
You are correct that orientals do like afternoon shade, but any shade they can get is helpful. It's just that the blooms don't hold up to the heat as well as others. I have some in too much sun so those I cut and enjoy in the house.
The Lily Garden has an index of bloom time, but for vigor, that might take a little homework. Do look into the orienpets, (aka OT's) as they can take more sun, smell great and extend your bloom time.
http://www.thelilygarden.com/pages_general/index_bloom.html
Thank you for the gracious and most helpful welcome. The place I want to put the lilies is very close to the street. I was hoping to share the beauty and fragrance with the walkers and joggers so this won't be a lily cutting garden. I have another spot picked out for that.
A nasty late frost killed all the old wood on my Weigela 'Red Prince' that is directly SW of the planned lily spot. It completely slipped my mind that it will be providing some considerable afternoon shade for the lilies next year when it reaches its normal height so I think I'm in pretty good shape shade-wise. There remains, however, the problem of our considerable Kansas heat and dessicating winds in the summer.
I'm making a list now of pale pink colors from B&D, buggycrazy, and The Lily Garden and hope to narrow things down from there to what I have room for. I expect that will be the hard part because its so hard not to want them all.
Aww.... I see you've found all the good sources, there's no turning back for you now. lol Glad that you've joined us.