re ailing lily
- Subject: re ailing lily
- From: D* W*
- Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 13:16:29 -0700
Many years ago I visited a lily breeder's nursery right on the
Oregon/California border on the coast. (Strahm's) They hybridized
speciosum lilies, the late flowering pink and white sweetly scented
ones. Some of them were taller than me. I bought lots, and they
flowered a year or two. Some that I gave to a brother with better
soil lasted longer, but they eventually died out. The parent species
is from Japan, with a climate completely opposite to us: rainy
summers, dry sunny winters (the wild grasses are green all summer and
brown all winter).
I still try lilies, but I find they do better in pots. When I have
bought potted lilies in bloom from a breeder near us, I would plant
them out following all instructions ( fertilizer in the bottom of the
hole, lots of compost ) but I'd run out of time before managing to
plant them all. The next year, to my embarrassment, the ones still
in their original pots were doing much better than the ones so
carefully planted in the garden.
I keep the pots on a balcony, safe from the deer that we now have,
but which were not present during my earlier unsuccessful attempts to
grow lilies.
Diane Whitehead Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
zone 8, Sunset zone 5, cool medit
