Orienpet Lilies | In My Garden

Category Archives: Orienpet Lilies

June 3, 2012 · 12:07 am

FAST FORWARD GARDEN!!

Rosa Colorific on it’s second round of blooms

This has been the most incredible spring.

It began early

and is lingering.

I love it.

Lilies and Larkspur

It seems we haven’t had a freeze since almost Valentine’s Day.

The result is one of the prettiest springs I can remember.

It also means that my plants are blooming way ahead of schedule.

At least 3 maybe 4 weeks ahead.

A fast forward spring.

People were picking tomatoes on Memorial Day for heaven’s sake.

All of this means I’ve hit that “peaceful puttering time” early.

The “peaceful puttering time” is when the rush of spring ends.

Everything is planted.

And moved.

And tucked in to grow.

So now begins the first big weeding sweep.

Last Summer’s Zinnias

When the weeds are gone I”ve sprinkled zinnia and cosmos seeds.

And this year the cosmos seeds are actually sprouting.

Especially where I dropped an entire pack of seeds!

Puttering also includes deadheading.

Gloriosa Daisies

Which is often done on my morning walk through the garden.

This year I’m also taking an oath to truly thin out the cockscomb.

You remember cockscomb.

It absolutely takes over the garden in fall.

So I’m determined to manage it better this year.

We’ll see.

Then there is the field of nut grass moving toward the strawberry patch.

It is the hardest weed to get rid of.

If you pull it up

It multiplies.

So as much as I hate to admit it I’m going to spray it with round-up.

It’s the only way over the years that I’ve found to rid it from my garden.

I promise not to use much.

Next I think I’ll tackle the area around my compost bins.

It’s filled with this spring’s empty pots

And last falls end of season leaves and stuff

That hasn’t hit the composter yet.

I’ll stake up a few of those Orienput lilies I planted last fall.

Their heavy budding heads are drooping.

My other weekend task is to move some mums around in the front bed.

We reconfigured it a bit earlier in the spring

So I need to move some to fill in gaps here and there.

As you can see there is a different pace in the garden.

Slower.

Less list driven.

More relaxed.

Easy days to putter

And play.

And enjoy.

I plan to take it all in.

Slowly.

Hope you have some puttering time in your week.

Gail

P.S. Here are a few pictures of last weekend’s wedding. Thanks for the pictures, Pat.

My nephew Will

IT’S LILY TIME

Conca d'Or Orienpet Lily Bud & Bloom

It happens every year.

Just like clockwork.

About the time the sky fills with fireworks

Oriental lilies light up my garden.

They should nick name them 4^th of July lilies!

Oriental lilies are tall

5’ – 7 ‘ tall

And fragrant.

Intoxicatingly fragrant.

You’ll notice the scent just by walking near them.

And beautiful.

You will recognize two as florist favorites.

The pure white Casa Blanca

Casa Blanca Lily

And hot pink Stargazer are frequent visitors in bouquets and arrangement.

Stargazer Lily

Showing off in my garden this year is a lily of unknown lineage.

I know – I planted it.

But I’m not good at record keeping.

I’ve looked in the catalog and can’t seem to figure out what I ordered.

My best guess is that it’s actually an Orienpet Lily.

That’s a cross between Oriental Lilies and Chinese Trumpet Lilies.

Possibly it’s named Conca d’Or

It’s a lemon yellow.

One catalog described it as lemon-meringue pie.

Sounds good to me!

Since Orientals bloom in the heat of the summer they like to live in the shade.

You can give them some morning sunshine but please not in the afternoon.

I learned this the hard way.

The first time I planted Stargazers I ended up covering them with a tea towel every afternoon to keep them blooming a few days longer.

Can’t believe I actually just admitted doing that!

Stems can have up to a dozen or so buds.

Buds will open from the bottom to the top of the stem over a couple of weeks.

It’s not a long bloom period but it’s worth it.

Years ago we took Elliott on an “urban vacation”.

Boston was our destination.

I’d always wanted to see the Boston Pops on the banks of the Charles River on the 4^th.

The trip was great – a memorable family lore kind of trip.

But..all the Stargazers bloomed and finished while we were gone.

So sad.

Another great feature of these beauties is that they don’t take up much space.

They grow straight up so you can fit them in anywhere.

But since they will have completely disappeared by the time you get ready to plant bulbs in the fall it’s important that you mark the empty places now.

I use bricks.

Just place a brick or two any place you think would make a good home for lilies.

That way you won’t have to guess or try to remember.

The worst sound in the garden is the sound of a lily bulb being sliced in half by a shovel.

I know.

So this year when the bulb catalogs start arriving – I’ve actually already gotten one – look at Oriental lilies and their cousin the Orienpets.

I have 4 Aloha Rose bushes.

They are a hybrid.

I knew better but got sucked in by the glorious peachy pink blooms.

For the past three years they have been plagued by a tiny bug that sucks the life out of the blooms – thrips – I think.

I’ve tried everything – to no avail.

Last week at the Farmers Market I was spinning my tale of woe to Kate who is an excellent gardener.

She said a friend tried “blue sticky traps”.

Found them and installed them this week.

Hope they work since they are not the prettiest addition to my garden.

Another great reason to go to your local farmers market this weekend.

Advise!

As you garden in this tough heat remember to drink tons of water and most importantly…..follow the shade.

Enjoy,

Gail

P.S. the Dahlias are coming!!!

Category Archives: Orienpet Lilies

FAST FORWARD GARDEN!!

IT’S LILY TIME

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