{"id":98912,"date":"2021-06-07T16:34:28","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T20:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=98912"},"modified":"2021-06-07T16:36:56","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T20:36:56","slug":"lilies-again-and-time-to-order-tulips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=98912","title":{"rendered":"lilies again (and time to order tulips!)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\"P1013589\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Improbable mashup of agave, castor bean, Sonchus palmensis and possibly Lily ‘Eurydice’ — the color is right, though the bloom habit is supposed to be drooping, pendant, not outward facing. Maybe that habit develops as the bulb matures? Whichever way it hangs, the scent is incredible<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here in dry frost-free zone 10b, grow lilies in containers. That’s what I’ve been admonishing myself for years. And that’s what I’ve been doing, without much noticeable benefit, because the bulbs rarely return a second year whether in the ground or containers. It could be the lack of winter chill and\/or me falling down on watering duties after they bloom. But in the housebound August of 2020, late summer being when the selection is best, I deliriously ordered over a dozen lilies; and upon their arrival in October\/November I planted them in the ground. Potato\/potatuh, right? If success in containers is minimal, it’s back to the garden for the bulbs. At the very least, there wasn’t an extra dozen containers underfoot all winter\/spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"P1013583\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
unlike other bulbs, lilies never go dormant, and they require even moisture year-round. And when an Oriental lily bud unfurls and throws its scent…ooh la la<\/em>!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At twilight just these two lilies in bloom wafted scent strong enough to fill the entire back garden. Even when it’s too dark to see, it’s hard to leave that scent behind and head indoors at the end of the day. I ordered my lilies from B&D Lilies and the Lily Garden, and both companies are highly recommended for selection and service. Be warned that not all lilies are scented; the colorful, earlier blooming Asiatic lilies bear no scent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"P1013602\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
no ID — my lily bulb binge garnered a bonus unnamed orienpet from B&D Lilies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So this year I mostly skipped the tulip rigamarole but went in a big way for lilies, and there are a half dozen stalks with buds forming in pockets throughout the garden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"IMG_3384\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Move over, aloes and agaves. Even a garden as small and densely planted as mine can squeeze in some lilies.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Treating them both as expensive annuals, I find lilies actually easier to manage than tulips. There are no pests like the lily beetle here waiting to ravage the flowers, and so far no creature disturbs or attempts to dig up the bulbs. However, the tulip rigamarole will be back for 2022 — some pandemic habits, like heavy catalogue use, will be difficult to break! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"311tul004\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
a good one for forcing\/prechilling, Tulip ‘Queen of the Night’ March 2011. The Triumph and Single Early varieties are generally good bets for prechilling, which is how frost-free zones like mine must handle the bulbs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once again I ordered early for the best selection, and the bulbs will come this fall 2021 prechilled. Incorrigible<\/em> is the word that best describes this bulb habit, a peculiar form of zonal denial. And this cool spring I’m enviously reading reports of how long the tulips are lasting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"218tulips005\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
handled prechill regime well — Tulip ‘Brown Sugar’ February 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With their mysterious bulbous nature, hidden underground like Persephone for much of the year, I find them the ultimate garden tease. Delivery devices of rich, complex colors suspended on slim green stems, their appearance searingly intense but brief. In a condensed performance, bulbs enact a preview of the transformations a garden will make spring through fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"37tul014\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Tulip ‘Double Beauty of Apeldoorn’ March 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I suppose it’s because they are so difficult here that I find them perversely irresistible. I don’t dream of large municipal plantings of tulips in spring, just a few pots on my back steps to celebrate Persephone’s triumphant reemergence as captured in the fleeting drama of ‘Gavota<\/a>‘ — and maybe next year ‘Bastogne<\/a>‘ and ‘Amber Glow<\/a>‘ too if the prechill rigamorale is a success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here in dry frost-free zone 10b, grow lilies in containers. That’s what I’ve been admonishing myself for years. And that’s what I’ve been doing, without much noticeable benefit, because the bulbs rarely return a second year whether in the ground … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[25,550,842,898],"tags":[1951,5115],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNJ2E-pJm","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98912"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=98912"}],"version-history":[{"count":66,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98979,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98912\/revisions\/98979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=98912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=98912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=98912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}