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!

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.

Garden Update: Late June 2012!

Welcome to my garden near the end of June, many mid-season bloomers coming to life, the main focus this year was to work on improving the structure, quality and variety of the gardens. The vegetable patch was pretty much un-planted aside from an array of tomatoes and potatoes.

Pink-Red Rose, Mini-petunia, Pink Yarrow, Yellow Daisies and "Blue" Spiderwort.

Orange-Peach Day lily, "Strawberry Short Cake" Echinacea, Spiderwort, "Fire-Cracker" Coreopsis and a basic purple geranium. 

Campion, and a variety of Daylilies blooming in the garden.

The lilies I ended up buying...

I fooled myself, and my blog post from earlier! I do think that the varieties I stated were gorgeous, but not the variety I had on my mind, I was slightly (very much) off. Anyways... isn't she lovely!? It's a dwarf Lilium Hybrid called "Lollypop". When I got there I had a 50% coupon on the small perennials, so I picked four pots with the largest plants and three blooms per stock. Two aren't even blooming yet, the woman at the cash questioned this and I giggled... because three is better than one and twelve is better than three?!

I haven't exactly decided where she will go yet...

I have my eye on a few things...

I did some garden centre recon and found some plants I'd like to haggle for later today... I would wait until close up for buying most plants on discount, but when it comes to more showy bloomers, it's important to buy them right before they bloom or during. This way can can better assess what kind of blooms you will get; wither it be the colour or size or number of physical blooms on the plants. Store garden centres (as explained in THIS post) tend to have a bad reputation for mis-labeling plants... or over pricing poor quality plants. One rule to keep in mind is typically, if it looks great in the pot, just imagine how it will look in your garden with root space, and special care. If it's healthy and you like the blooms, its the best time to buy it. That way you also get to enjoy a bit of time with it in your garden also.

I really have my eye on some Asiatic lilies I saw yesterday, some were dwarfed and others giants. I'm going back to "Metro" to try and haggle my way into getting a few lilies for cheap. I don't know the variety name, but I'll post that later. They kind of looked like these nice varieties.
                                                         

 "Cappuccino" Asiatic Tango Lily

"Nettie's Pride" Asiatic Lily

"Black Spider" Asiatic Lily

I guess we'll find out later what variety I picked up... I also saw some very tall beauties from Canadian Tire with double blooms... maybe my dad will be into those... can't exactly bike with a 5 ft potted plant in my basket.