I have very few species lilies but I do love those I
have.
Here is CA, lilies are not the most reliable thing but
(thanks in part to Lee's encouragement), I have tried
a few. I have the standard "Eastern Lily" that I
purchased last year as a forced plant. It was in a 1
gal. container and flowered nicely at the time. I put
it into a 3 gal. container last fall (or was it this
spring?). It originally had only 3 stems, it now has 5
stems with 3-8 flowers each and a few smaller stems
with 2-3 flowers. I have it growing at the beach
(Venice) in full sun. The stems are less than 2' tall
but nice and tigh. Some of the leaves and flowers are
slightly deformed. I haven't looked closely enough to
see if it is bug damage or what. I have a growing
ingterest in lilies here now since this one is doing
so well.
I also have here L. regal alba. It was purchsed for a
landscape client who complained about budget too much
so it was never planted. I put 2 bulbs in a 1 gal.
container. Some did not produce flowers while others
produced 3 per stem. They are not umbles or racemes.
They are more of a discombobulated mess. One shooting
off here, one higher there, etc. They are growing in
dappled shade. I will see what they do next year.
As for whatI have planted in Ohio, well, the list goes
on and on for the hybrids but I am only just starting
to put in the species. I planted formossanum (from
Plant Delights) last spring ('02). Many were damaged
by a late frost (after Mother's Day) and did not
flower. I think there were 3 or 4 flowering stems out
of 6 (?) plants. I ordered more this year (and they
again were damaged by a frost or two (late April).
Digging around in the bed planting other things this
spring, I found all the bulbs. Most of them have
appeared to have lost the main center bulb (if they
had it when they were planted I don't know since they
were in pots to begin with). They did have many
smaller (obviously not flowering size) bulbs around
that will continue to grow.
This year I added L. regal alba and L. leucanthemum.
The regal alba I have always admired in the catalogs
for years but never took the step. I have them on an
east facing wall behind large clumps of daylilies but
next to a beautiful climbing Abraham Darby rose. In
front of the dayliilies I have some peach hybrids
(Peach Butterflies I think) from The Lily Garden.
The L. leucanthemum (I only got 3 bulbs of these) are
on the south side of my largest perennial bed (15' x
45'). It is a raised bed (completely in full sun save
for a few large shrubs) and they are planted at the
top (only 12" or so high) near some bearded iris. They
will be near to two hybrid lilies ('China Express' and
one other I can't think of at the moment) and
Perovskia. I hope they look good together.
I have always wanted to get L. candidum but they ship
those at a different thime then when I am in Ohio and
nothing gets planted after I leave. I wish I could
find a local supplier for them as I would snatch up
every single one of them.
Now for hybrids, I have probably 15. They range from
the standard 'Casablanca' (I counted 18 flowers per
stem last fall on plants that have a stem 2" in
diameter), 'Stargazer' (I order some every spring and
fall and put them in everywhere), and new this year
are many from The Lily Garden - 'Copper Crown', 'China
Express', 'Angela North', 'Reverie', 'White
Buterflies', 'Allegretto', and from other sources
'Golden Stargazer', and 'Claude Shride'.
I don't have a lot of shade areas just yet so some of
the native woodland species will not be added to the
garden for many years yet.
I found out that my aunt likes the species (such as
martagon-like). So I will be adding more over the
years.
I am looking for a nice peach or salmon colored lily
that will fill these requirements-
1) Be under 4' (3' prefered)
2) peach or pale salmon
3) works well in a mixed bed
4) stand full sun with regular waterings (3x a week)
5) reproduce and flower well over the years w/o
disappearing
Anyone have thoughts? If I can't find a lily, it will
be a rose bed instead. ;>))
Well, for not thinking I had much to say about lilies,
this certainly became a long email, sorry.
=====
John Ingram in mostly gloomy but warm, L.A., CA.
Not much blooming right now, just a few Crinums, a sinningia or two, and some fabulous Pelergoniums.
jjingram@adelphia.net
Floralartistry2000@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/floralartistry2000/