Buds!

bicolor henryi

White Henry (not floppy for me at all really)

I planted 12 Henry's Surprises in Fall 2008. This year I only got 2 deformed flowers. So the surprise is how disappointing this lily has been for me. I think it's too wet here in the spring for this one.

Now Henryi is seriously floppy. I let it be, after staking it about halfway up the stem. They all get lots of flowers but so far none of my Henry's have broken.

This bud looks like a very sad creature of some sort.

Scheherezade

Black Beauty. I think it's my favorite. Seems to reign over everything here.

Sumatra. May have to post another picture later. More flowers have opened since this one. It's very satisfying to finally have an oriental here.

another shot of Black Beauty

Another garden shot, with Scheherezade and B.B. in the distance.

Only one more lily left to open. Sigh. Sniff.

jmorth, that is a glorious stand of Lilium pardalinum.

Remember everyone, we have a thread dedicated to lily species photos:
http://cubits.org/liliesforum/...

And all these fantastic pics are really making this a standout thread!

wickerparker, your Henry's Surprise aren't deformed. The petals have just stuck together, as can happen on just about any lily (although some are more prone than others). Gently peel them apart from the petal ends working back to the base.

Thanks Rick. They really weren't right, though. They're long gone now, but they looked nothing like they looked last year. They didn't have the purple edge. The shape of the sepals was different. And the size. And then of course, all the buds aborted but two, and most didn't get buds at all. I only got a couple of flowers last year too -- from twelve bulbs -- but they were much healthier looking. That'll teach me to go overboard with a lily I've never tried.

I wouldn't throw in the towel on old 'Henry's Surprise' just yet wickerparker....it's too great of a lily to give up on. Could you move it maybe? Maybe it just isn't getting something it needs in that spot. You are so close to me in your location and it is so reliable here. I think too, if you have gotten all the rain we have, it can have very negative effects on things. Lilies would much rather live on the dry side.

Rick, the wetness around here the last couple of seasons has been a challenge. I think in the least that that is why I had such problems with seed pods last year. It felt like they never really dried out and when they did, they almost looked moldy, so much of it I just scrapped. Hopeful for better luck this year. I had one of my 'Robert Griesbach' lilies bend in half after the last rain. It wasn't too windy, compared to other storms, so I think the stems must be waterlogged.

I have been using Neem Oil every 5 days or so this entire growing season on everything. It will be telling to see what effect it has on botrytis. With all of this wetness, it will settle in, it always does, late August or so, on years that are saturated with water. It would be great to have something to spray that works on these aphids and botrytis that didn't give me the environmental guilt that some of the other options do. And honestly, so far with the aphids, I am having just as good if not better results.

The L. henryi and 'Black Beauty' lilies are a couple of the most rock solid, reliable lilies that there are. They look beautiful in all of your yards. L. pard is stunning in your stand jmorth. What a great clump shot.

Hi Tracey! I won't give up on Henry's Surprise yet. The ones that got the blooms are in the best spots I have. I can't do better than that. They're with other lilies that do fine. So who knows. Last year was brutal, and this year June was the wettest ever. So maybe next year will be their year. Maybe I should grow them in pots next year. I might try that with a few of them. They're short lilies, after all. That might suit them.

Have you seen many aphids this year? Last year my huge climbing rose got decimated by them, but this year I've only seen one or two, which I blasted off with the hose. But that's it. I keep meaning to spray everything with neem, which is the only thing I use, for powdery mildew, bugs, everything, but I've been too lazy and everything's holding up pretty well so far. It's a fool's paradise though, and I know it's important to be preventative. Normally I do spray with it every week or so.

We have aphids here every year, no matter what I use. They come from the ratty, unkempt field that is on "set aside", to the back of our property. It is never mowed and is run rampant with weeds and garlic mustard, never mowed and in order to keep the bad stuff out of here, we have actually maintained 10 feet or so of their property line. I try to throw seeds over the fence so that something will take, besides burdock and other invasive weeds.

Maybe those Henry's just need somewhat of a normal season. He really is a good one...a keeper. It's frustrating I know, when a lily doesn't live up to the expectation. Henry doesn't mean to let you down

Laura, Beautiful photos! And I just love the trellis against the fence. Great idea!!!

Gorgeous pictures, everyone. You're right, Rick, this is a wonderful thread.

Jack, what are those pretty red flowers with Casa Blanca?

Ipomopsis - a self-seeding Texas wildflower