Hi All Lily Lovers,
I posted this message a about a week ago, but I only had one response. I don't know if it was just overlooked, but I was hoping for a few more suggestions from all of you wonderful experienced lily growers. So, in case it was just overlooked, I am posting it again.---Thanks!
I am a new gardener and I am planning on starting a lily bed. They are my absolute favorite flower (esp. Orientals-Stargazer). My DH & I think we want to do a mixed lily bed and are considering ordering an All Season Lily Mixture from Breck's, which includes, Asiatic's, Trumpet, Tiger, & Oriental lilies. We may get a few extra Orientals also. And we will have the lilies that Maxine so generously donated to us (yellow with black spots). Though lilies are my favorites, I am not so crazy about their stems and leaves. Is there anything that I can underplant with them to give some prettiness under and around them, preferrably something that will bloom from early spring till frost? I have thought about something like Candy Tuft, Verbena, some kind of white daisy looking flower that maybe only grows max. 12" tall. Any suggestions would be extremely welcome!!!!!
BTW--Have any of you had any experience with ordering from Breck's? If so, please let me know what you thought, as their reviews are very mixed.
Thank you,
Dana
Suggestions for Underplanting with lilies
Sorry you haven't have much input ~ the lily forum has been unusually quiet lately.
I have my lilies in mixed beds with iris, daylilies and other assorted perennials, plus a handful of annuals. Zinnias are a nice cover for lily stems and come in an assortment of heights and there is a whole color palette of sun tolerant coleus.
HI Diamondlady,
I saw your earlier post, but I don't think I've got any good ideas for you. I'm still trying to come up with the perfect combo myself. I did put my quite tall citronella lily in a large combo container of annuals this year and staked it with a cool iron stake. I included a Black Eyed Susan Vine (Thunbergia) and allowed it to climb the stake and the lily after it bloomed. I've been watching it carefully and I don't think it's hurt the lily at all. I think it turned out kind of neat.
Maybe a shorter variety of Phlox or a garden penstemon?
Some of the lilies I grow are through a ground cover called moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia var. 'Aurea').
These lilies came through a stand of Artemisia. Should an Artemisia be used, be conscious of heights when choosing a variety.
Thank you for all of your input!!!
Do you all think the lilies would be able to come through groundcovers like Homestead Purple Verbena or Periwinkle?
Thanks,
Dana
I like delphiniums, coneflowers, zinnias and anemones. They provide interest when lilies are not in bloom.
DiamondLady and all lily lovers,
DON'T overlook Orienpet lilies, crosses between orientals and trumpet lilies!
My son gave me one for my birthday last year. He came bearing a huge pot with a tall purplish lily, and he was wearing the biggest grin! Planted it at the back of my garden, 'cause it's so tall (5 feet). When it bloomed (July? '07) it had EIGHT ENORMOUS flowers, so fragrant, that when I walked outside, I could immediately smell it, although I was 30 feet away from the plant!
I brought one bloom into the house; put it on the window sill over my sink. This I don't understand: the smell was not overpowering. The flower lasted for many days...didn't keep track of how many. One flower is a bouquet all by itself.
Don't I have a wonderful son?!! Actually, I have two, but the older is not a gardener.
This year, I have ordered more orienpets, and will share them with my son, the gardener.
How blessed I am!!!
Of course, my first suggestion is always more lilies! ;) Orienpets or OTs as they are sometimes called, are wonderful bulbs. The more the merrier!
I have two small raised beds devoted to lilies. In one I underplanted with a pretty red-leaved creeping sedum and penta, an easy annual that blooms all season. In my asiatic bed I planted the sedum, for groundcover, and also put in lots of verbena bonariensis, which was small when the lilies were blooming and tall later on so that they distracted from the flowerless lily stalks -- those bloom all season too. I wanted drought tolerant things that didn't need watering since I think it's best to avoid excessively watering the bulbs when they're done with the flowers. Anyway, the tall verbena worked great. It's a notorious self seeder, but that's not a problem for me.
Elsewhere in the borders the lilies are interplanted with all kinds of things.
Diamondlady, verbena would be a good one to use, and Homestead Purple is a great variety. Periwinkle is too short to really do much.
May I suggest Verbena appleblossum (a cousin of Homestead Purple):
http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/VEABS.html
Verbena canadensis:
http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/VECAS.html
Verbena Sissinghurst:
http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/VESIS.html
Homestead purple:
http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/VEHPS.html
Nepeta Snowflake:
http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/NESNS.html
I grow them all with roses and lilies although only the nepeta is hardy in my zone. I think that all of them are in yours.
And I second the suggestion of verbena bonariensis.
If you have any grasses I suggest you tuck some there. Although they are a bit tall, the effect is spectacular.
You could use shorter grasses, like the fescues (Boulder Blue) or Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Little Bunny'.
http://www.paradisegarden.com/shop/product.php?id=PGG0018&browse=1
http://www.paradisegarden.com/shop/product.php?id=PGG0029&browse=1