What a great day we had for our impromptu tour of the July gardens. The overwhelming humidity has lifted for the beginning of this week and temperatures are very comfortable. About seventy-five people visited, with the first arriving at two p.m. I was shocked when my wife informed me that it was time for my heart meds at 7:30 as I couldn't imagine where the hours had gone, and our last guests departed after 10:00 p.m. I enjoyed meeting many new gardeners and I hope they felt the same. In at least two cases, people returned a second time, bringing additional guests to the gardens... what fun!
The hemerocallis pictured above is Joel and and continues blooming heavily. The texture on these blossoms is quite unusual in my experience, with the petals feeling like silky cardboard. They also make a nice display growing along the north stone wall of the garage which my son and I created when he was in high school. In this location they bloom amongst four plants of Acer griseum, the paperbark maple and an Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood'...
Elsewhere in the gardens, I've constructed what I'm hoping to be a raccoon proof structure where the hybrid tree peony seeds will hopefully over the course of two seasons come through their double dormancy, creating root growth this season and top growth next.
Three of my very favorite orienpet lilies grow and bloom amongst the dwarf conifers in this area... the first to bloom is Silk Road, pictured below at seven feet + in height...
The second member of this orienpet trio is Sheherazade, as if the Kalendar prince of lilies, it carries a moniker that by itself can inspire the imagination. I find the very name of this plant
exciting as it brings to mind the symphonic suite based on "The Arabian Nights" by Rimsky-Korsakov in the late 1800's.The blossom conjures up the intrigue of these ancient tales and the music inspired by them. The wandering beggars known as the Kalendar Princes who were for some mysterious reason considered royalty... this plant has it all, including the mystery and royal lineage!
The third of my three favorite orienpets is called Pizzazz and it does have plenty of that! The dictionary describes pizzazz as the quality of being exciting or attractive. I personally think that the color of Pizzazz contributes to the former, while the latter is due in large part to the classic lily form. At this writing, there are no open blooms as Pizzazz is the latest of the three. With that in mind I'm sharing a picture from last season...
I'm doing a few hemerocalis crosses this season, searching for more eyed cultivars... speaking of eyes, there is no subtlety in this example by a friend who hybridizes...
Do you ever just take a day and "waste" it? That's exactly what I did today, but the question is... was it actually wasted? My heart was feeling a bit off today which happens occasionally, so I plopped a chair at the base of the driveway where I could pick up on all the fragrance of the lilies, and I just sat and enjoyed myself, observing the humming birds, breathing in the fragrance and simply took life easy. It wasn't long and a visitor stopped in to see the gardens... we talked for awhile and I bid her explore as she deemed fit... later after lunch, I had resumed my previous posture and another couple stopped in... same scenario with the exception that the wife also wanted to learn about glass and some info on Tiffany Studios. We had a lengthy and enjoyable visit despite the fact I'd never met them before. My mind returned to days gone by when my 90+ year old grandmother would sit and watch the world go by, often greeting visitors for a few moments... what a great way to grow old, interacting with friends old and new and surrounded by God's love in the form of a garden.
What you may ask, are the fragrance culprits, infecting the air in our gardens... it's mostly the orienpets, lily crosses between orientals and aurelians or trumpets, hence the OT designation. The color in OT's can vary based on temperature, etc. I've noticed that with the extreme heat this summer, many of mine are lighter colored than normal. From my seat in the driveway, I was able to observe the following cultivars and more.
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| Candy Club |
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| Conca d'Or |
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| Sweetheart |
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| Maywood |
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| Saltarello |
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| Red Dutch |
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| possibly Garden Party? |
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| Robina |
Now, imagine a few of these cultivars, fragrance multiplied a hundred fold by the many blooms open at one time... for this day at least... this is my world!
Take care, Larry
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