In small garden news, there are shoots:
This Nepeta, above, was such an impulse buy that I do not remember the species - fond of semi shade, flowers like blue salvia....Ah.
N. subsessilis.
Agastache "Black Adder"
Here it is, last year:
And the irrepressible "Etoile Violette":
Last summer:
Other good and cheering news is that I have ordered my lilies (all nine of them!) from
The Lily Garden: Silver Scheherazade - a white sport of the tough-as-nails lilies that closely resemble my Dunyazades. Also some
Seafarer, which I think are the most beautiful lilies, ever, with peach undersides and green topsides (and which Dinah might enjoy, if they bloom before we return from South Africa in June) and finally Madame Butterfly - very exciting: a
Lilium henryii hybrid with those sexy recurved petals, white, with green stripes over an apricot throat. The Lily Garden - a small, family-owned business in the Pacific Northwest - is my go-to excellent source for lilies. I have tried several other well known companies and am disappointed by their small (immature) size or packaging.
(By the way, if you do want to order from The Lily Garden, you can order via email, rather than download and print their form. Just be sure to have your lilies' names and codes in the email. Then call them with your credit card number.)
One lily that I shall not order more of, is Silk Road - she's going strong and is is so imposing that the terrace can only handle so many specimens:
In the meantime, I have other people's gardens to help plan.
I am ordering some true english garden roses, the david aster, I would be very happy to give you a cutting. These make the huge peony type roses and have a true rose smell. my mother is sending me some vintage lilies that are on her farm, planted in the late 1800's by the people who settled there, you can buy them anymore, will share 1 with you
ReplyDeleteTimshell Rivers
Hi Timshell
DeleteDavid Austin roses, perhaps? English hybrid roses. I have some on the terrace, and two more arriving, chosen by Michael Marriot, the rosarian at David Austin. I am looking forward to them, but wonder where I will fit them :-)
I wonder what the lilies on your mother's farm are - they soud mysterious and exciting. Where is the farm?
hey I am just seeing your response now , lol, hidden away, let me know where to send the lilies, and as soon as I get the rose bush will send a cutting, or could just hand deliver to you, and we could have a good drink, you are a 20 minute bike ride away
DeleteI love lilies and they work great in any small garden. I often companion them with iris which is great for color overlapping from spring through summer. The bearded iris leaves support the lilies without staking too. Great you have the first signs of spring too. We are getting more snow this week, so plants are still cozy and having a good rest.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to have iris. Best scent in the world, I think. And that's a good tip about the leaves supporting the lily stems. But I just don't have the space.
DeleteI always wonder if the reblooming ones are as scented as the once-bloomers.
DeleteThere's always room for more English hybrid roses. Always.
ReplyDeleteAlways. You are right. What was I thinking?
DeleteMy god - is that cat's butt practically hanging off the edge of the drop to the street?
ReplyDeleteActually now that I look closer, there appears to be another ledge of some sort that I first thought was the black pavement of the street. Never mind.
The lilies are lovely and I may have to get some. Not something I've gotten into yet.
There's a nice, handy, 18"-wide gutter under his butt.
DeleteI've read that lily pollen is very toxic to cats....
ReplyDeleteMost parts of lilies are toxic to cats. The kitty has survived six years with them. Luckily, Storbie does not chew on them.
DeleteHad promised myself not to buy any more plants this year (well, maybe a few annuals for color pop) but .... lilies? Mighty tempting. Will check their website. have been lusting over your Silk Road for a couple of years.
ReplyDeleteMy first David Austin is on the way. Can hardly wait. Hope i can treat it right.
(Ominous whisper through night-curtains: B-u-u-u-u-u-u-y li-l-i-i-i-i-i-es!)
DeleteSeriously. They are So easy. Plant 'em, Forget about 'em. Snails! Hush my mouth. Watch for the snails. Just in the beginning.
I just enlarged the rooftop photo and noticed the CAT! Love him, guarder of the plants! Ah, spring coming soon.
ReplyDeleteOne of my best friends married into the family that owns The Lily Garden. They live on the edge of endless flower fields...
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't found them yet check out B&D Lilies. They're PNW company, but I have been very happy with the lilies. My Casablancas (white) are now reaching 7 feet, yes, 7 feet and they smell wonderful!
ReplyDeleteby god i love your blog. the seasons are turning on my balcony - to winter - and it's so wonderful seeing it go in reverse, on the other side of the world, in what is probably the balcony garden i most wish i had. (plus, new york. swoon).
ReplyDeleteI keep going back and forth with more lilies. I have stargazers, and last year they did wonderfully. But they bloom when it's too hot to be outside, and I can't see them well from inside. Or smell them. Plus with total shade, it is risky. I bought hedychiums instead last year when the urge hit-- Dr. Moy and Luna Moth. Yet, here you are again making me want some tall, delicious lilies.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Lilium canadense or L. superbum? Can deal with more shade and are native to the Northeast.
DeleteI thought about those, but it's still a lack of sun for what they require. They won't get any direct sun-- just bright light. Plus those are slower growing. Sad. :)
DeleteThis is me, but blogger isn't letting me answer you :)
Marie, you have so much luck overwintering perennials on your deck. This will be my second season gardening on a deck in Maine. I have been gardening for many years in a large, mostly shady garden but am a bit wary about trying to overwinter perennials on a second floor deck. I've ordered a couple of clematis and I'm thinking about getting a fragrant rose as well but I'm wondering if you have any tips on overwintering perennials. I live in zone5 but who knows what zone it is up here on the second floor.......
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I've found your blog very inspirational, thanks for helping to green our cities :)
Andrea
Hi Andrea
DeleteAdmittedly, I have no experience of Zone 5, so there's that. But I do advise growing plants that are hardy in your zone, and research, or good nursery labels usually tell you that. So my only advice is Choose the Right Plants :-)
I don't know how exposed your deck is? Any shelter from a wall?
I do nothing special to protect my perennials. Sometimes I will lose something like an agastache, but this yer I see their new leaves emerging already.
Common wisdom would advocate giving them a layer of mulch to help insulate them and preserve some moisture. If you do use a thick layer of mulch it is important to remove it once the plants' shoots start to emerge, as the tender stems can rot if suffocated by mulch.