I don't think I have seen anything like that before. I could use some of those rocks for my garden though.

A snapdragon seed found a home in the crack of an old railroad cross tie

Tropical Isle: Bulb and Flower Color. Here's one single example where bulb color matches the flower color. You won't find many cultivars that do, however. The nights preceding bud opening must be cool to develop the deep rose-pink edge.

July 23rd, 2014, nighttime lows near 60'F, cool. The grass is still green, too!!!


Oct 6th, 2014


July 13th, 2016, nighttime low temps. near 80'F, too warm. As you can see, the grass is turning brown.

With Tropical Isle I always seem to get good color with the rosy edge. If it takes an 80 degree overnight low to lose the edge I don't think that will happen here in the Willamette Valley.

Neat observation on the bulb and bloom color Lorn.

It's a joy and pleasure to grow a lily with such a nice personality, too. This one seems to love life itself with such a lively and happy disposition. It seems to love and enjoy the company of other garden plants even when it gets a little crowded. It doesn't mind being moved occasionally and always seems to enjoy a little coddling with top dressing of compost every now and then. Very friendly spirited. Which is more than I can say for a couple others hybrids of mine here. One in particular seems downright mean, stubborn and uncooperative. It can't stand to have another plant within 2 feet of itself and if it could talk it would yell: GET BACK! YOU IRRITATE ME! YOU'RE TOO CLOSE! And it will then grow in the opposite direction away to avoid its neighbor, even though it has plenty of room. If I tie it back, it will bend and resume its lean growing. And if I move it to a more solitary location, it will punish me by not setting another bud for two or three years. Yet, it has all the best proportions, the prettiest flowers and nicest foliage anyone could ask for. Just plain mean spirited.

For some reason, I see Lorn writing a children's book with this story, beautiful lily illustrations, names and all. It would be a really great one. You could pick your moral of the story. It could go a couple of different ways.

Tracey that sounds like the "Choose your own story" books that my son loved when he was a kid.

I can't say my TIs are that happy. I started with two and now have six or seven of them growing in close proximity. I'll toss some compost on them tomorrow and see how they do next year.

I have to admit some of its seedlings outperform it, topping out at six or seven feet and providing the same pink edge look and growing in the same bed.

Maybe your plant has bi-polar. I bet a little music would calm it right down. Well.....good music anyway

What I really need is some really heavy metal to kill the blackberries coming over from the neighbor's rat nest yard. And if TI croaks too then so be it, well worth the effort in my opinion!

Lilium henryi, var. citrinum. Lifted for division. Note: this is an exceptionally straight and stiff-stem clone from The Lily Garden where it has been used for years in hybridization (and still is). Aside from its hardiness, its usefulness in crossing is to breed in stem stiffness as well as with many crosses, the color yellow can be quite recessive in hybridizing.

Something unique about this species: Because of its stiff-stem nature and combined with the fact it is a heavy stem feeder, if a bulb is planted sideways, the stem will travel a quite a few inches before surfacing and will form roots and bulblets all along. A word of caution though, If this stem emerges at an angle, it will continue to grow straight but at an angle, possibly for many years. Therefore, when planting var. citrinum, be sure the bulb is straight 'up'. Some random photos with a caption here and there.

In this first picture about 15 inches of the stem bottom is missing. I cut the stem long. See second to last picture. I just stuck the stem in the red pot for pictures only.








Double nose to be removed








Offset formed between scales


Note how color developed during the six days after digging while being held in a cool and dark environment. There is a reason for this and I'll explain later in comments.

Nice - what an asset for hybridising! I like the look of those odd pumpkins too.

Gluhwein. Received as a bonus bulb in 2010, and having spent 6 years being part of a focal group in a mixed garden here, it is now time to say 'good bye' as she moves to a new home a short distance down the road.

Something more interesting going to take its place?

Gluhwein looks (er... looked) very showy in your garden, Lorn. You grew quite well, too! Most photos I see of it it looks washed out in color. Maybe I need to try that one.

Not really, Tracey. I'm going to put a couple of Don Egger's Herald Angels in there that Johan Mak got as part of. the Cebeco deal. (not the B&D uprights).

Connie: It does fade in bright sunlight and it doesn't have to be hot either. It just so happened that last year when I took the picture, we had a cloudy and cool spell just as this was blooming. Another aspect I didn't like was that the flower size was a little to small in relation to such a big, robust plant. It's new home has good shade.

A Friend had given me a small Gluhwein bulb in 2011. I moved it in 2012, and it does increase quickly. So pretty that the bulb warranted a photo:


But I gave mine away last year, too. It's probably just a personal preference, but I didn't care for the color: not peach or apricot, not pink, but kinda in between. I am used to small blooms with all the species I grow. I really don't have a good reference to judge bloom size, but the first two years it bloomed I was completely unimpressed with the color. To me it looked faded when it first opened! The third year when it open, I remember saying to myself, "so that's what it is supposed to look like....". But the ensuing fade was rather quick.

Thanks for the additional info Lorn and Rick. No Gluhwein coming to my house now!

Lorn, that first photo of a Cebeco upright is just gorgeous with the light shining through. I don't care for the uprights but if I had that one in a more normal orientation....

Tracey: Yes, the colors are clean, bright and sharp. I just don't have many good pictures of them because I'm not into uprights; it's not what I do. None the less, most Herald Angels uprights do have a nice raceme inflorescence with high bud count and bloom over a long period. See pictures 2 and 3. These are pure Div. VI with no Oriental in them. They would make good stock for anyone who wants to build more upright orientation to Orientals in breeding.

Notes. Don Egger obtained his stock from a breeder in New Zeeland while he was working for George Hueblein at Milridge, the new Oregon Bulb Farm and later Cebeco, USA. The intent was, of course, to create upright Oriental hybrids suitable for the cut flower industry. Johan Mak continued to work with these up until recently when the last of his stock was shipped to Australia the same time that Judith Freeman shipped some of her material to a grower there after her recent visit. It's kind of interesting how this variety came out of New Zeeland and now made it's way back to Australia.

The intriguing part of that upright trumpet is the reverse. The upright orientation is not my favorite either, mainly because I realized how much water they hold after a good rain, like a rain gauge. It would be nice to breed that one into a side facing one to get some of the nice traits it has, in a different orientation.