A banner year for lilies!!

The genus Lilium is very near and dear to my heart. Ever since I bought a package of clearance bulbs when I was about 11 or 12 years old and flowered a potful of fragrant 'Stargazer' lilies, I was compelled and hooked. It was a plant that simply had it all!  Easy, hardy, colorful, fragrant; it was easy to impress people with them!

Years later, I've acquired quite a collection of lilies and have learned so much about them. I often tell people that you're obsessed with a particular plant when you're breeding them and rescuing embryos in a laboratory to create complex hybrids. This was totally the case with me and lilies.

Our summer here in the Pacific Northwest truly was outstanding for lilies. Some are continuing to put on a show, but my goodness, the middle of July was absolute heaven!! Stems towered just a little higher with more vigor and bloom after fragrant bloom that was simply mesmerizing.

Here are some highlights from earliest to the ones currently still in bloom:

ASIATICS:  Generally, the first of the lilies to flower each summer starting in late May into early July.

The almost black 'Dimesions'

The dainty, but tough 'Ariadne'

and prolific too!

I adore these in arrangements! 'Brushstrokes'

A most unusual cross with an Easter Lily:  Lilium 'Lankon' is a hybrid between the dainty Lilium lankongense from China with Lilium longiflorum, the popular and well known Easter Lily. The Easter Lily is often grown and forced it bloom in April for the holiday, but its normal bloom time in the garden is about July.  These two species are very distantly related and would never cross naturally with one another so through some elaborate laboratory techniques, the union was recognized and a strikingly spotted and unique hybrid was unveiled.

OT's = Orienpets = Oriental x Trumpet Hybrids

More and more people are getting accustomed to seeing these remarkable hybrids nowadays. I can still remember when one bulb would cost about $60.00 and it seemed like the holy grail of lily breeding. Now the market is absolutely FLOODED with these hybrids.

An unintended plant combination with Monarda is 'Shocking'

The most voluptuous stems of 'Anastasia' in a private garden in Bellevue, WA

The stunning 'Conca d'Or' growing very well in a private garden in Bellevue, WA

'Contrast' absolutely vigorous in a private garden in Seattle growing with Thalictrums, Alliums and Hydrangea aspera.

The unique coloration and stunning fragrance of the rare 'Kushi Maya'

'Silk Road' in the background with Sidalcea in front

'Miss Libby'

'Blueberry Crush' absolutely stunning with Phlox 'Blue Paradise'

'Nymph' with a glimpse of Landwave Gardens

Double Freaks of Nature:

Boy, was I excited when the first double-flowered Oriental was introduced into the market just a few days ago. Now there are several out on the market, I still think they're just okay; they're more for the collector, I feel. Requiring heat and regular moisture to make sure the buds open properly, the double Orientals open slowly revealing no sexual parts as they've been morphed into extra tepals. So, there's no messy pollen and the fragrance is still very much that of all other Orientals.

The bizarrely different 'Magic Star'

'Miss Lucy' in an arrangement I assembled with a striking rex begonia leaf.

This truly has been a superb summer in the garden and to have some of my favorite plants perform so well is just icing on the cake. If you could only see these blooms in person and experience the fragrance on some of these, you'll absolutely be amazed as well.


Riz

I'll have the double-double...or NOT

Nah, I'm not talking about my recent encounter with an In and Out burger for the first time EVER! (animal style with a strawberry shake, mind you)

But, I'm talking lilies. Double-flowered lilies. Double-flowered ORIENTAL LILIES. Double double...okay, you get the idea.

Now, double flowered lilies aren't all that new. They've been around for quite some time and they're usually the result of one of mother nature's "accidents" and breeders have come along and selected those that have converted/fused some of their stamens into tepals creating a sterile pollen-free "abomination of nature" that's ridiculously cool and, hey, pollen free so I can cut them for arrangements without worrying about staining the tablecloths or getting plant sperm on my nose.

Most of the doubles that have been on the market have mostly been Asiatic lilies. They're the ones that come in a wide range of colors, bloom at around June for us in the Northern Hemisphere and usually aren't scented, but in recent years, a whole arsenal of double flowered Orientals have made their way onto the market and I wanted to be one of the first to obtain, grow and evaluate them as garden plants.

The first of these double orientals to hit the masses is one 'Miss Lucy'. A very soft pink with gently ruffled petals opening to perfection like a carnival confection. This photo blew me and thousands of other avid gardeners off our feet.



We were promised that each bud would open properly, last longer in the vase than any other "single-flowered" oriental hybrid, and being an experienced lily grower, I thought I was about to grow a dream!

I purchased bulbs from a dutch source and that first summer of 2004, this is what it produced:


Buds aborted, and those that did develop opened slowly, then browned out and fell off. A total, WTF Moment!! I paid $10 a bulb just to get this??!!

I figured, okay, it was a tough summer, I didn't irrigate like I was suppose to and didn't fertilize as much as I could have; it was all me, not the plant.

So in 2006, I made sure they had lots of organic material, adequate water and I even tried to plant them in a little more shade so they don't scorch, but I still got THIS:


These were three stems with single flowers on each to make it look like I had "success" with this "exciting new introduction". They never opened fully and you can see the trace of browning on the tepals as they began to go south. =(

I was so ready to trash and bad mouth 'Miss Lucy' and never recommend anyone to grow it! However, I started seeing this at local Seattle and eastside Bellevue home gardens:







OK, what gives, huh???!!!

I've grown lilies since I was in my early teens: I've bred and propagated them, cloned them in the lab, rescued embryos in vitro, collected rare species from the wilds of China AND I CAN'T GET A BLOODY DOUBLE FLOWERED ORIENTAL TO F*ING OPEN PROPERLY!!

Yeah, you bet I was pissed!

What made me determined to succeed with these lilies was seeing Bob and Dianna's new repertoire of double orientals they featured in their catalog about 2 years ago.

Bob and Dianna or B&D Lilies have been friends and mentors of mine since I caught the lily bug early. They've known me since I was 13 years old and bought my first 'Casablanca' bulb from them at the 1996 NW Flower and Garden Show.

Here we are at last year's show:



So in their wonderful catalog, they had like 3 or 5 different double flowered Orientals that blew me away. That floozy 'Miss Lucy' was one of them, but it also included ones that were far more colorful and interesting in shape and I figured, "OK, I gotta do this. I need to get one of each and DO THIS!!!"

Here were my results:

Lilium 'Jozef'


So, meh, okay. Not the best form or the greatest color. Had one flower on a stiff thin stem.


Lilium 'Davyd'


Yeah, this one came out kinda freaky and gross looking.


Lilium 'Chrys'

So then this came along and actually melted my heart and said, "Ahhhh....finally. A nice one"



There are others I got, but never came up for some odd reason and there are still others that I've yet to try, but might splurge on should they become available.

I'll be on the lookout for these this spring:


'Queen Sofia' - aka 'Roselily Fabolia' aka 'Double Star'



'Distant Drum' - aka 'Double Pink Rose'

and this WILD THANG being advertised as purple and white. Why is it f'ing RED with white??!!

Lilium 'Magic Star'



So, I dunno. I don't want to say that these are all crap as I know I could have taken better care of them and according to my gardening friend, Nita-Jo Rountree, who grow spectacular stems of 'Miss Lucy', as seen above, the key, she's been told by a grower, is to always provide adequate water when actively growing and forming buds or else you'll run into the problems I had.

With lilies typically easy to grow without too much attention, the extra effort to ensure these strange lilies might not be worth it for the casual gardener. I think these doubles will always remain a novelty item prized by avid gardeners and serious collectors. Who knows how well they'll be received in the florist trade? Will they open as easily as the "singles" or will buds just abort and shrivel?

Always an ongoing experiment of trial and error. You know I love it!

Oh yeah, I did like this, but totally in moderation:






R

New Double Lilies and Hots for Hostas!

As the new year approaches, I get super stoked about the arrival of plant catalogs. I don't know about some folks, but I still LOVE getting them in the mail; thumbing through and highlighting selections I probably could never afford to buy has always been a favorite pastime. hehe

It has also acted as a "heads up" when it came to new plant introductions I should be aware of. I always seem to savor the excitement of seeing a new plant, but over the years, I've become immediately critical of anything new that I see. Suddenly, the serious plantsman in me begins to question its origins, its market potential, its trial process, how it could be utilized in the landscape and if I'm infatuated enough, I find ways to somehow secure a sample so I can grow it myself or often times, I immediately seek out a "plug source" so I can be one of the first in the region to offer a plant.

Plant market can be very competitive and nurseries are always striving to have something new and exclusive. As a small hobby nursery, it's impossible to keep up with the surge of new plants if you don't have the resources to grow them on. However, being the plant nut that I am trying to stay on top of everything I'm exposed to in terms of plants, I can't help going through these catalogs and almost predicting what people might be after (both beginners and seasoned avid gardeners).

Many of you know that I'm a big fan of lilies and Hostas. Upon recent web searches, here are some must haves on my list:

B & D Lilies
I've known Bob and Dianna since I was 13 years old and I've worked with them at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show for a few years. They bring a wide assortment of exciting lily hybrids and some of the best bulbs in the industry. Over the years, they've started to diversify and offer other plants such as peonies and Eucomis, but the lily hybrids are their specialty and they have some notable selections I'm eager to try:

Double-flowered Orientals:
Now, I'm completely enamored by these, but I've yet to grow them successfully. I tried a wide selection last spring, but with the terrible heat and poor irrigation, not one flowered for me, but I'm still eager to try!

Here's a brand new one called 'Lodewijk' I don't have yet. It looks so full and so out of this lily world!


Here's the ethereal 'Davyd' meainging "beloved". The bloom is absolutely breathtaking.

The problems I've had with doubles is their inability to open properly under my garden conditions. I've yet to figure out why, but I have my suspicions: not enough water, too much sun, poorly amended soil, but the fact that I've struggled with a variety called 'Miss Lucy' (the first of the double Orientals to be introduced) for years now, I'm hesitant about recommending these other doubles, but they're so irresistibly different and exotic.

Here's one I HIGHLY recommend that I got last year and was most impressed with. It is an Asiatic hybrid called 'Netty's Pride'



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Naylor Creek
Gary and Jack have also known me for years and their hostas and shade plants are almost unparalleled in terms of variety and quality. Here are some plants I'm being tempted by:

I'm a fan of the classic blue hosta cultivar called, 'Halcyon'. It has produced one of my most favorite varieties called 'June' which has a gold/chartreuse center and now comes 'Blue Ivory'.
Nice wide margins on what I hope is a strong plant that doesn't burn at the edges.


'Fragrant Queen'
I'm a sucker for fragrance and this looks to be very promising. Excellent foliage and consistent fragrant blooms in late summer.

The red-petiole cultivars are much sought after by collectors and even novice gardeners are beginning to take notice and even wonder if a "RED HOSTA" will ever be bred. Here's an attempted with one called 'The Razor's Edge'.