Lilies in our gardens...

Maywood

Somewhere along the way... in the course of days past... lilies stole our hearts. Now in the waning days of July, each day brings on more new cultivars blooming for the first time here at Oak Lawn (about 150 new bulbs were installed this past fall and spring) and anticipation has become a staple of our routine. The orienpets please us the most as it is they that perform the best for us, reaching in some cases to heights of seven to eight feet. A cross between trumpets and orientals, they have not given up a scintilla of the fragrance of the latter. Every evening before darkness descends, we retreat to the gardens and sit amongst the lilies and Ecuadorian brugsmansias as they battle one another for the imagined prize of 'most fragrant'. It is we who are the winners in this feigned competition of redolent perfumes that bombard our senses.

Silk Road

To the north of our home, Silk Road is the first to bloom, laying down the subject of a four part fugue that occupies a portion of a small conifer garden just outside our kitchen window. Easily reaching seven feet, we set stakes at angles off the center of the clumps, causing the stalks to remain separate from one another that we might enjoy the individual blossoms more fully.

Leslie Woodriff

The fugue's subject is then taken up by 'Leslie Woodriff', the namesake of the originator of the orienpet crosses, as the beginning of the flight of interweaving blooms takes shape. Within a day or two, 'Scheherazade' begins its bloom period to be followed by 'Pizzazz', making our composition complete. We are now at the midway point of this amazing spectacle, its design becoming more beautiful as the coming days unfold.

Indulge me as I share from among the forms and cultivars now blossoming in the gardens of Oak Lawn...

The cultivar 'Loraine' is a tetraploid from a series known as 'The Asiatic Lily Pearl' series. Five of these plants are named after the granddaughters of Dr. Robert Griesbach, originator of the crosses. I love the form and the reflexed petals and am anxious to see how they develop in the future as they were planted only three months ago. 

Loraine

I planted a number of LO's this spring which refer to the cross between lilium longiflorum (Easter Lily) and orientals. As they now open, all five new cultivars look virtually identical to one another. The reason for this probably lies in our very hot weather last week, as the color only develops fully in very cool climates. Despite the cool weather we are now experiencing, the die is apparently cast. In addition to 'Triumphator' which I've grown for years, I now have groups of 'Bellsong', 'Cali', 'Chiara', 'Gizmo', and 'Vendella' which is pictured below...

Also new to the gardens this season is the orienpet 'Blueberry Crush' and it's amazing just how accurately this name portrays the blossom...

A very dark colored orienpet blooming now is called 'Mussasi'...

Mussasi

The color in the orienpet 'Eudoxia' has drawn me in and I find it more attractive as its bloom season progresses...

Eudoxia

From the left in the following photo... 'Sonia', 'Sweetheart',Conca d'or', and 'Candy Club'...

Certainly to be counted amongst my favorites, the tall 'Robinas' are pictured below. Our transfer to cool temperatures this week has made a huge difference in the color as compared to last year's faded tones caused by the heat... this small collection of 'Robina' photos demonstrates differences in color with varying light and times of day...

I could share many more lily photos but will save some for next time. Overall the gardens still have an amazing amount of color for which I am thankful. I have one scheduled tour remaining on August 2nd. It is a bus with members of the Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society... I'm told these are the folks who are so into plants that it takes an hour to get past the front gate... my kind of people! Normally the perennials would be pretty much past by early August, but not so this year with the later seasons of bloom.

Annabelle and Invincibelle Spirit hydrangeas with brugsmansias and Tolleson's Blue Juniper back what has traditionally been an annual garden. The Moonstruck Yellow marigolds that I started from seed are amazing and very likely something I'll use in the future. The daylilies mixed in are my own seedlings...

While there are a number of daylilies that are starting to go over, especially in our mass planting bed, many of the later ones are just coming into good bloom...

Heavenly Beginnings is just coming into full bloom with more Moonstruck Yellow marigolds backed by Helmond's Pillar barberry and a variety of clematis plants...

Clematis Rooguchi was new last year and has begun to develop nicely... this is proving to be an outstanding cultivar...

Sometimes one forgets the beauty of non-flowering plants at this time of year... Picea parviflora 'Glauca', the japanese white pine, has the most marvelous new cones as well as retaining its older cones for years... it's a thing of beauty...

So too, the shade garden has virtually nothing in bloom just now... however, capturing the rising sun against its many textures is a worthwhile endeavor...

Christopher Lloyd of Great Dixter plantsman fame had his "Mixed Border Lloyd" concept to which I subscribe wholeheartily... I love the addition of shrubs and trees, especially conifers, to the mix... it truly makes for all-season gardening...

... and so, yet another day in the garden comes to a close with the setting sun moving little by little out of the north west towards the west and the approaching end of summer.
Enjoying the gardening life to its fullest,
Larry

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