After a warm period in spring causing the lilies to emerge early in April, it started to be very cold for ~1 1/2 months with temps below 15, often even 10°C. Then there came a short phase with 30-35 °C, and now, a week ago, the temps have rushed down to ~15°C and less again. The weather forecast talked of snow down to 1.300 m above sea level during the course of the weekend!
So, the plants have all developed well during the course of the weeks, but flowers are rather late.
Unfortunately, the red and black SLUGS also have multiplied more than well................
OVERVIEW (All pictures taken with camera of my mobile phone, therefore, sometimes a bit pale)
I think it is the same plant (or a doughter bulb) of my blog´s title image, paler due to the weather and to the fact that the pics were taken with the cam of my mobile phone. However, still unique and beautiful with its tepals so elegantly curled back! Wonderful!
And, YES, a crossing (with amputated style) has been performed. :)
Lilium lijiangense at its best! Still one of my favourits! :)
L. lijiangense close up.
Although I have thought that Lilium candidum will be one of the first lilies to flower, they have been thrown back by the bad weather. However, they develope very well, some even show secondary buds!
Lilium candidum in the front, some of them already reaching 120 cm, L. regale and Golden Splendour in the back.
A part of my Lilium bakerianum group. I had this species already some years before, and all of them (var. delavayi as well as var. roseum) reached 1 m and more (did not survive winter in pots). This year´s plants are all super-tiny with no exception!
Again, Golden Splendour, reaching 190 cm this year and still growing............ :)
Centerfold, a rather nice Tango/Asiatic cultivar. From the description it should be white with purple brushmarks, I guess the weather caused it to become more pink.
Dani Afrin in its second year. The color (which is much better in nature!) is really stunning, however, the wet weather seems to harm the petals which become mottled with dark irregular spots. Maybe also a virus is involved, and this might be the reason why the cultivar was taken from Richard Hyde´s list, as one can read on his homepage. The plants are still very sturdy, so, at current, I do not plan to remove them.
A great surprise this year: Eye Liner which was about 30 cm high with some 2 or 3 flowers in its first year, but has reached already more than 100 cm - and still growing - in 2010 with stems thick like a man´s finger! And the original 2 bulbs have developed at least 10 babies, a feature which seems to be typical for many LA hybrids (as seen on my field for other cultivars also).
Also a sweet surprise: Tiny Sensation (with a deformed flower), a dwarf cultivar with a very appealing color combination, only 15 cm high at current. I found this lily in autumn 2009 as a faded pot for 2 € in a garden centre, containing 3 large and about 10 baby bubs. However, the small label showed a nice picture - and that´s it! :)
Still a long time to flowering time, but developing very well: Anastasia, a 3n OT hybrid.
Lovely lilies! I love Dani Arifin! They are still blooming in my garden . I compared your Centerfold with my DotCom but yours have darker petals. Maybe Strawberries and Cream. Mine is not blooming yet. Yes Centerfold is white with purple/maroon brushmarks.
AntwortenLöschenDr. H, a question for a newbie here. What is the reason behind the amputated style when crossing?
Thank you.
amputated style? when crossing not very related lilies and/or when the pollen donor has a much shorter style than the "mother", it is good to cut the style to about 1 cm of its lenght, apply some stigmatic fluid and then the pollen, and cover it with aluminium foil. this often helps to promote a crossing. so, pumilum f. i. has very small flowers with short styles (3 cm?), other larger flowering asiatics also have longer styles. this might somewhat "exhaust" pumilum´s pollen tubes when growing through a long style. :)
AntwortenLöschenThank you for the clear explanation.
AntwortenLöschen