Hello everyone,
After posting on DG wondering where all of the lily traffic had gone, I was directed to this forum (thank you DonnaMack, ge1836 and Leftwood!). I just signed up for All Things Plants and have been diligently reading through all of the posts. I had no idea this other forum existed! Now I know where everyone has been posting lately, LOL! I have lots and lots of lily questions so I might start posting them here.
I just moved into a property that has extremely well-drained deep sandy soil with lots of organic matter that I think will be perfect for lilies. If anything it is too well-drained and I will have quite a chore keeping them moist enough during the growing season. It is also on the alkaline side, so that rules out growing many of the Orientals (sigh). I do have a large raised bed in which I planted quite a few Lilium speciosum this fall (both rubrum and album) and sprinkled slow release garden sulfur over the surface, so I hope I can at least get them to establish and grow for a few years, especially if I remember to periodically adjust the pH of the bed.
I inherited a huge clump of upright Asiatics or LAs with the property that I dug up and divided this fall. I have no idea what color they are, but the clump yielded about 60 mature huge bulbs and numerous smaller bulblets. I hope I like it because it sure is prolific. But I do not think I like upright flower forms in general.
That said, I have gone lily crazy this fall and have placed huge orders with The Lily Garden (my absolute favorite), B-D, Old House Gardens, The Lily Pad and Van Engelen. I have been extremely happy with the quality of all of them. I have spent many hours outdoors rehabilitating my sadly neglected backyard and planting all of these lilies. Thanks to my friable, sandy soil, it was quite easy to plant them deeply, even with nothing more than a hand-held trowel.
I also just joined NALS to learn as much as possible. I have now read "Let's Grow Lilies" twice through as well as Ed McRae's wonderful book on lilies about three times through. I just can't get enough! :-)
Here are some lilies that I have planted:
Species: L. speciosum (mentioned above), L. henryi, L. pumilum, L. lancifolium 'Splendens' (planted in a somewhat isolated area), L. regale.
OTs: Anastasia, Alchemy, Silk Road, Scheherazade, Silver Scheherazade, Caravan, Sarabande, Black Beauty, Shocking, Satisfaction, Invasion, Robina, Hacienda, Conca d'Or, Leslie Woodriff, Carte Blanche
Trumpets/Aurelians: African Queen, Pink Perfection, Golden Splendor, White Henryi, Madame Butterfly (Mak)
LOs: Triumphator, El Condor
Asiatics: Ariadne, Eurydice, Eros, Karen North, Antique Lace, Rosepoint Lace, Peach Lace, Yellow Whoppers, Last Dance, Tiger Babies, Red Velvet, Midsummer's Eve
Cheers,
Corey
