Learning the Lilies!

There are so many types of lilies out there... which make them a excellent collectors item in the garden, I already collect hosta, so why not expand into my other favourite plant collection. My dad is definitely a heirloom guy, anything that reminds him of his childhood, growing up on the farm or my grandmother's garden, is his kind of plant. Me, on the other hand, I'm the artist, crazy creative child, so any weird or exotic plant goes! Here is a quick lesson into the world of lilies.

Lessons on Lilies

Day Lilies - Originally bred from wild lilies, these are the closest in resemblance to heirloom lilies and wild cousins. Today you can still find original varieties in simple colours and forms, the most common colours are white, yellow, and orange. over the years master gardeners and breeders have developed day lilies into any size, shape and colour. Some varieties bloom two or three times in a season, while others show off double or triple blooms and sometimes multiple blooms per stock.

                                                      "Lemon"                "John Peat"                  "Kwanso"              "Double Dribble"

Tiger Lilies and Tiger Hybrids - Tiger lilies are another species of lily, closely modified from the wild form. The original is orange with stripes, and spans as a native plant across North America in two forms, a large "day lily" style and a more dainty "Asian" style. It has been crossed and hybridized over the years to create hardy, tall and strong stemmed breeds. (Lilium lancifolium) grow happily in Zones 3-9 in colors of spotted white, yellow, orange, and red. They should be kept apart from other lilies since they can be carriers of viruses. Lilies come in a wide range of colors, sizes and bloom styles.

                                              Wild Tiger Lily       Wild Trout Tiger Lily  Giant Pink Tiger Lily   Giant White Tiger Hybrid

Heirloom Lilies

                                                  Lily Leichtlinii           Album Lily               Rubrum Lily       Flora Pleno Double Tiger Lily

Trumpet Lilies

                                              "African Queen"           "Perfect Pink"               "Regal"                  "Album Regal"

Asiatic Lilies
Asiatic have straight stems and many brightly colored blossoms ranging from the softest pastels to fiery reds and oranges. Asiatic lilies grow 2 to 3 feet tall and bloom over a long season. Most Asiatic lilies are unscented. Asiatic lilies require winter chilling to continue to thrive. Available in a wide variety of colors and combinations, some of the more popular Asiatic varieties are Landini, Centerfold and Lollypop lily.

   "Iowa Rose"          "Antique Lace"              "Linda"                "Landini"

Oriental Lilies including the Stargazer lily have large, ornate flowers, usually in white, pink, rose, or red with intense fragrance. Cultivars vary from 18 inches to 6 feet tall. They are the most popular cut flowers and garden perennials, and include showy varieties like Stargazer Lily, Casablanca Lily, and Tom Pouce Lily.

                                              "Double Mix"             "Casablanca"           "Giant Yellow"                 "Stargazer"

Collect away! I hope to add a bunch more to my collection this year, 

just have to find the right spaces for them!

The Dollarama Garden

Wow Dollarama, could you get any better? Take a look at what I found at Dollarama! Plastic Tarp Planting mats; perfect for the trunk or pot holding area. Pop-up mini green houses for spring or fall, seeder pots, mini seed starting green houses. My goodness bulbs, bulbs and more bulbs. The had peacock lilies, dahlias, glads and more. I checked the bulbs and they seemed to be correct. I bought some dahlias from them last year and I started them in a pot near my window. They also had a large box of wild/mixed flower seeds, great for covering a large area or making seed bombs! 

If anyone has tried any of these products or bulbs, let me know, how was it, what did you do? What would you do? What was the quality like? Thoughts! Share them!

Look at all these bulbs! I should have bought one of each and made a Dollarma-test garden. Only $2.00 a bag. The smaller bulb bags had almost 6-10 bulbs in each! What? Where do they get this stuff?

Jiffy Fiber Pots, Wildflower Mix and a Seeder Tray.

You really can do a lot with items from the dollar store. They also sell, 

tomato stakes, bamboo poles and terra-cota pots.

The two dahlias I started, $2.00 each.

Zehrs Market "Garden" 2013: First Visit

It looked like it might rain, but I still headed over to Zehrs in Guelph. I had the whole garden area to myself and they had just received all of there spring inventory. I was on a mission to do two things; scope out if they had the Ontario Natives plant rack yet... and to see what plants they had otherwise. Mission accomplished.

Ontario Natives, $3.99 each

They did indeed have the Ontario natives rack that they've had for about 3 seasons now. Last year I bought a foam flower "Tiarella cordifolia", but it hasn't shown any growth this year at all. It's a spring blooming flower, so we'll have to see what happens in the next few weeks. 

More perennial selection from President's Choice plants

They had some decent deals on the perennial plants, 4 for $20.00, some higher, some lower. I always do well on clearance here at the end of each season. I'll have to do an exclusively PC plant review in the next few weeks. The good, the bad, the ugly.

Ontario Natives "Our Native Plants"

I bought three Trillium to add to my collection, that makes 4. One traditional white, two pink and one red, the "Ontario Natives collection also had yellow, and one more red variety. It's really great marketing and a great idea. I feel it really makes the idea of native flowers more appealing to non-gardeners or non-serious gardeners. The nursery that propagates the native plants for "Ontario Natives" is called Sipkens Nurseries, Ltd. Wyoming, Ontario N0N 1T0. Each plant comes in a biodegradable coir fibre pot and the label is also biodegradable. All-in-all is a great concept, the label design needs a bit of work, and the plants should be in the pots longer in order to establish better roots, I'd rate it 7/10 in all areas.

Early May in the Garden 2013

Daffodils and Hardy Herbs

Mix of Narcissi and Double Daffodils

Solomon Seal, jumped up in just a few days, gorgeous specimen

Pink Lungwort... time to divide and sell!

Yellow Classic Tulips

Spiderwort- Tradescantia "Pink"

Rhubarb in the Garden... I need more of this

Strawberry Bed 2013, second year

Dwarf Irises "Purple" 

Tulips "Rococo" - Got two pots of these from brunch
centre pieces two years ago...

Pink Tulips and Poppies, tulips were also discounted
forced bulbs from a grocery store

My Costco Plants: April Bulbs

I bought a six-pack of mixed "forced" bulbs from Costco for about $5.99, sweet $1.00 a pot. It came with three Hyacinths, one white, two purple, and three mini-daffodils in yellow. I would say the daffodils had about 6-8 mini bulbs in each pot, a great deal. I planted them out in the front garden near the path leading to my door. I must say, 10/10 for those mini-daffodils, they are amazing! There is like 20-25 flowers on them right now, its an explosion of blooms!

At the end of the row, beyond the
double pink/white tulips

Nearing the end of it's best show,
you can still see plenty of blooms!

Purple Hyacinth almost done, one pot of mini-daffodils
and some pansies I added. One pansy has frilly edges.

This will not be my last costco trip... stay tuned for May!

Candy Lilies "Pardancanda"

The lovely background is provided
by my Giant Variegated Reed

I found some Candy Lilies at my all-time favourite Garden-Centre (The Potting Shed), and I just had to bring them home! They have minty-iris like foliage, and long lime stalks that support multiple small lily/orchid like flowers. My flower colour is a bi-coloured peachy-orange and pink-yellow bloom. After they bloom for a few days they twist away into a cocoon of sorts and develop a seed pod that burst open with shiny black lily-seeds. A very delicate looking plant, a great collectors plant to show off in an area, bees and pollinators love them! I can't wait to grow a massive clump, maybe collect some different colours. It's not uncommon to have multiple colours develop from one plant.

Beautiful fresh bloom from my Pardancanda

Candy Lily will grow to be about 24 inches tall at maturity extending to 3 feet tall with the flowers, with a spread of 18 inches. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 8 years.

This perennial does best in full sun to partial shade. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for acidic soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder zones. This plant can be propagated by division.

After bloom, pods, and a new flower in the centre

A new flower ready to pop open!

Some more brilliant examples of "Pardancanda"... I might have to start a collection...

To buy your very own Candy Lilies, you can visit your local garden centre (a good one, not a grocery store or a box store) or order a mixed bag online. Online nurseries also have unique colours and variations available.