July and lilies, smells like summer!

Lilium ‘Ariadne’ a downfacing, pendant asiatic with peach colored turkscap flowers in abundance. These bulbs, planted three years ago are maturing into large specimens with tall 5 foot stems with nearly two dozen flowers on each. They remind me of our native Lilium canadense, a little bit, at least in thier general form. When the Lilium superbum blooms in a few weeks, I will have an even more similar form. Still, as pendant asiatics are difficult to find in retail nurseries, let alone at mail order nurseries, one can still find them at a couple of lily specialist sources such as the Lily Nook in Canada or where I got mine, at the Lily Garden in Vancouver, Washington, or at B&D Lilies, where anyone wishing to grow lilies must order their catalogs now, or place their orders in August, for October planting. DO order some of these harder to find lilys, which are only seen in gardens of those in-the-know. Better yet, in the next few weeks go check out a lily show in your town, most likely there is one held in association with your local Lily society ( not Daylily, that’s different, of course, but do that too!). Check out the North American Lily Society or your national lily society for local info. google6d65ecfd2405ed7c.html

Lilium regale, is a chinese species which produces trumpet flowers with an intense, mysterious scent which I like to describe as heavy whipped cream, toothpaste and gardenia, all combined.