Me too! And it doesn't take Long to get into it. Especially if you don't like just one division or color

The fact that I'm borrowing my neighbour's garden bed and have planted excess bulbs at my in-laws', as well as the large number of pots should be overwhelming evidence...

For years mags has told me that I corrupted her...

That is a fact. All of my current lily problems can be traced back to @pardalinum . This is not a joke. It started with a seed that came from her. It germinated. I never thought I could manage to get that to happen. It did.

And I blame my corruption on Joe Halinar for having an ad in garden magazine a selling his seed crosses and of course those first seeds that germinated for me.

When I was working I kept photos of my first lilies from seed on my desk like normal people have photos of their kids. Now those photos are on a shelf in my kitchen and I frequently stop to gaze at them and wonder... what if I had not come across that ad?

What's all this talk of corruption?! Tracey, surely Connie just helped you see the light, as did Joe with Connie...

I have a list of people for sure. Tracey, you would be on my list. Lol

Looks like there is something we all agree on though there is always at least one person that helped influence our lily passion

If you happened to see my basement Joshua, at this particular moment, you might not think it was a "normal hobby" of starting a few lilies from seed.

Indeed, we all have catalysts in our lily frenzy. Truly grateful for pard and her help along the way, encouragement, knowledge and patience go along way.

"If you happened to see my _________ (fill in the blank, in my case a garage converted to living space converted to my hobby)... you might not think it was a "normal hobby" of starting a few lilies from seed. " It is even carpeted! I removed the very inefficient cone fireplace this past summer but left the hearth. Nice to put pots and "stuff" on!

I didn't say it was a "normal" hobby.

And normal is over-rated.

Roosterlorn said:Thoughts of Spring and cabin fever.

Can't wait to check this grouping of baby L. michiganense that I discovered growing about 30 feet from my property line by the driveway. Dozens of them growing in an irregular circle about 1 meter to 4 feet in diameter. There is one young adult plant and a couple first time single flower plants in the group. It is a redder version of the several versions of L. michiganense that grow wild here.

Awesome find! I love the red variety. L. michiganense grows all over around me. Mostly the orange variety. Two years ago I found a patch of red ones like yours. We should swap pollen this coming season. I noticed these red ones bloomed a week earlier than the orange ones. I wondered about it being a hybrid with a red canadense but haven't never seen one around here. I collected seed and sent some to the seed exchanges last year. Didn't make it to that spot this year so no seed collected.

I think I mentioned before that in at least one place in northern Minnesota, L. michiganense leaned to a decidedly hot pink. Perhaps it might have something to do with the very acid soils there. That was 20 years ago when I saw them, and the area (along side a four lane highway) has been bulldozed since.

Doesn't that always seem to be the way...

Here is a picture of the red L. michiganense I found in 2015. Pictures could be better - taken with cell phone.







Have you guys noticed that the inflorescence is umbel vs. typical plant descriptions suggesting it is raceme? I have not found a single raceme in any of the plants around here.

Patrick,

Thanks for the photo's!. I was one of the lucky ones to receive some of the seed you donated to NALS. The seeds are currently hanging out in our spare fridge for a couple more months. Thanks again for the photos.

Gorgeous red, Patrick. I've only seen the umbel (or double deck umbel) form, too. I think maybe "raceme" is the technical term relating to the actual botanical structure..... that where it looks like an umbel, in actuality it is multiple pedicel nodes crammed together on the tiniest of internodes, rather than naturally forming at the exact same place as with Allium. Maybe.....


Looks like the yellow flowers are a Lysimachia species?

What a glorious red!

Thanks Mike, Rick, & Della!

Mike - hopefully those seeds grow well for you.

Rick - these were growing in a ditch about 10 miles from my house - was so focused on the lilies I didn't even look at the other plants growing at their feet until later looking at the photos. Not sure what the companion plants are and if they looked natural/wild or if they were seeded by the landowner? The ditch bank for these was very steep and I tried not to break my neck getting close to them to get the photos. The ditch below them has running water year round.

auratum said:Thanks Mike, Rick, & Della!

Mike - hopefully those seeds grow well for you.

Rick - these were growing in a ditch about 10 miles from my house. The ditch bank for these was very steep and I tried not to break my neck getting close to them to get the photos. The ditch below them has running water year round.

The environment you describe here is what I believe to be the absolute perfect surrounding for L. michiganense. They seem to love nesting their bulbs on a somewhat drier shelf with a plentiful and consistent moisture source down lower where their long roots can reach it. In a wet land prairie, such as Chiwaukee Prairie, which borders my property on three sides, the water table mimics these conditions where lowlands (swamp bogs) and uplands (oak trees) meet and where the water table is likely to be within a couple feet or less of the surface. Your example of a road ditch vertical profile is classic. Now, imagine gently spreading that profile over areas as large as football fields here and there---lots of L. michiganense. Also, they are most concentrated at an east to southeast to south side of a transition to upland. Your red one is a fine example.

Patrick and Mike: remind me next summer and we'll get together on pollen and seed.

Thanks Lorn, I am probably a couple of years out before I can reciprocate.

Lorn,

I can provide pollen from the wild as I don't have any flowering in my yard yet. Lots of seed started from crossing different populations in the wild. Would love to get wider crosses from pollen from Wisconsin vs. 20 miles down the road especially with the different forms like the red. Also interested in the lighter colored forms. In the past I found some really light - almost shading to yellow but the area they were growing was turned into a hay field and I have not seen this form in several years. Here are some of the better/larger stems I found in 2015. I find it growing in smaller groups in my area - generally in road ditches on the North side of East/West running roads.









I did find an up-facing single bloom stem one year - it produced OP seed and I had sent some of that into the seed exchange.


Patrick