Studiology

Lily Love

The lilies are blooming and the garden is intoxicatingly fragrant. The asiatic lilies are almost done, usually the first to bloom with flowers that face upwards or out. Non-fragrant, this pool of hybrids comes in many colors, sometimes two-toned or speckled. I consider them the shortest of the lilies and good when partnered with salvias, nepeta, achillea and/or coreopsis. Lilies are socially graceful, looking their best in the company of perennials, this is especially true with asiatic lilies. 

The next to flower are the trumpets, followed closely by tiger, oriental and finally rubrum lilies. The playing field has changed dramatically in recent years with lily hybridization. Interspecfic hybrids are replacing old standbys, this is when hybridizers cross pollinate two subcategories to come up with an entirely new one that brings out the best in the two. One example are the L.A. hybrids, a cross between Lilium longiflorum , better known as the Easter lily, and Lilium asiatic, resulting in a hardier Easter lily and sometimes fragrant asiatic lily. Incredible colors that have never been seen  in Lilium longiflorum also make this a superior match.  The inclusion of L. longiflorum and asiatic give them the name L.A. hybrids.

Another new area of interspecific breeding are the O.T. hybrids, sometimes called the orienpets. In this case it stands for oriental with trumpet. Both fragrant parents result in intensely fragrant offspring. Another trait the two share is height, often towering so high that you need a ladder to photograph them. My Lilium 'Yelloween' are 87" tall. Shown in the photograph, I am standing on a garden bench and holding a 72" ruler. Now that's a fabulous hybrid but finding them to purchase from local suppliers is nearly impossible. With their tall stems and top heavy flowers, the containers at nurseries tend to fall over. The wholesale suppliers limit their choices to short lilies with names like 'Tiny Bee', 'Tiny Ghost' and 'Tiny Todd', all asiatics and great when grown in a pot. Cut flower growers order their bulbs directly from Holland, something you will have to do if you like them tall. One on-line supplier had 26 different O.T. hybrids, each and every one of them GORGEOUS!

We still have the tiger and rubrum lilies to look forward, not to mention the little lily groups like auratums and the towering Lilium henyri. The latest flowering lilies are downfacing, tall enough for you to walk under and look up at their beautiful lily faces.  You may have thought that May was good, but June and July can be outstanding as well, at least for those of us that suffer from lily love. 

 

Garden Lecture and Show Reception

On June 23rd I will be giving one of my best lectures at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria. The topic is survival strategies, which elaborates on the methods plants use to grow together. This lecture is guaranteed to change the way you think about your garden, especially your perennials. Placement of plants, management of them and plant combinations will be easier to understand. The lecture begins at 9:30 and the cost for non-members is $20. (If your a member it's $18.) Here is a link to Green Spring:

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/greenspring/ed-adult.htm

On August 11th, there will be an opening reception for my show at the Lorton Workhouse. I am a featured artist for the month of August. The reception runs from 6 to 9 PM and I would love to see you . This month the show "Urban Decay"  is open in the Vulcan building, it's a must see.

Here's a little 1 piece preview of  my show in August. 

Link to the Lorton Workhouse:

http://www.lortonarts.org/

Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang

Much has happened since my last post. I left off with non-hardy plants coming back in the garden and yesterday was the big surprise, my Colocasia 'Illustris' has come back. A tender tuber, hardy in zones 8 to 10, but rarely returning even in zone 9 (and we are zone 7). Well.... he's back. I dug the tubers in fall to store them, but bits have returned on their own. Amazing!!

The first miniature gladilus is flowering. A deep purple, it's beautiful.

When I walk Duke in the woods, I find pockets of Indian pipe popping up. Every year I try and remember their season. Clearly it's the beginning of June. Indian pipe feeds on fungi that are mycorrhizal with trees, so it's really a parasite. Since it does not contain chlorophyll, it's completely white. There are a few common names, two others are ghost plant and corpse plant. Today I noticed a bumble bee pollinating them. I have seen ants do the same.

We lost a bantam chicken to a fox. It was Pequeno Maxwell's wife Priscilla, an adorable little white bantam. She built a nest by our garage and was sitting on eggs. Next time we will move the nest to safe quarters, if there is a next time (he still has Lucille). As we realized that she was gone, we found a guinea nest with 26 eggs in it and a female sitting on it. Between three of us, we couldn't capture the female guinea, our plan was to move her into a pen with her nest and eggs. So we gathered the eggs and delivered them to a friend in Berryville who will incubate and hatch them. She was our original source for guineas,  and she's down to three. And lastly, in the chicken department, we have 10 new youngsters, all Sex-links, a hybrid between Rhode Island Reds and 2 other chickens, all good egg layers. 

My work at Oak Hill has been delightful, the weather has been awesome! Yesterday I clipped the knot garden which is designed with boxwood 'Morris Midget'. Planted five years ago, it's really coming into its own. I use a pair of hedge trimmers, the brand is "Okatsune", Japanese and very good. I use the short handled pair, sold as #60. It's real precision work, but these trimmers make it all happen.

It's lily time at Oak Hill and they have just begun. My favorite might be Lilium 'Royal Sunset'. It's a variety I sold at Windy Hill, years ago. The only thing that keeps it from being number one is a lack of fragrance, not that it doesn't have the genes. The royal series is part of the L.A. hybrids, so named because they are a cross between L. longiflorum (the Easter lily) and the asiatics, hence L.A. Some have the fragrance inherited from the Easter lily, some don't.

 I have many 4 legged helpers in the garden. There are three yellow labs. and one cat named "Trouble". You never know where or when she will show up. Today she hung out with me.