Don't know how to describe it in words, but a few of you have been here this week and have had the wonderful opportunity of experiencing some firsts with me.
Rubrum Lilies,(as they are called by some florists) Lilium, are like no other lilies. The varieties I have are Strawberry Shortcake, Star Gazer and Alina.
I start taking notice as soon as the buds start to grow. But first let me take you back a few years. I have traveled to many a perennial garden, usually trying to take in the ones with Lilies and/or Daylilies. Over the years here I have probably planted over 100 lily bulbs, favoring those in the pink/purple color scheme.
(I am just starting the 3rd hour at my blog this morning. It is an odd day, so I am watering, an hour at a time, and have just set up the 3rd watering position!)
Maybe 6-8 years ago I noticed I was losing Lilies. They were losing leaves and dying off. Very depressing. No explanation. What does one do?? Replace the ones lost? Live with the loss?
Well, at that time I was a foster mom, with 6 kids living here at a time. No extra money for anything, state does not pay foster parents well. Although I must say the joke's on them!!! HA!! HA!! HA!!! DSS!!! LOL LOL LOL ---
We got the Golden Ring!!! We won the foster parents lottery. We came out with way much more that a million bucks, or even a gazillion!!! We got MIA!!!! And it was a battle with DSS for the records. Details will not be following!! Lets just say hours in court, tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and 2 years of our time.
And we'd do it again in a heartbeat to be the parents of this amazing, wonderful child of our heart, our adopted daughter, Mia.
Okay, folks, wow, never know what is going to come up here!!
Where was I? So I could not afford to replace the dying plants. Had to sit by and watch them die, one by one. A few managed to struggle through and survive, and slowly I was able to buy a few here and there on clearance.
And then the gardening community started to put out information on a new insect which had invaded our gardens. The beautiful, but highly destructive Red Lily Leaf Beetle .................
Looking up in my "Rodale's Color Handbook of Garden Insects, Anna Carr, Rodale Press, 1979."
1979 - no wonder it isn't there, that's way before it was introduced into this country. Let's just have me admit right here my reference materials are somewhat out of date. But there is my grandmother's Oakland High School, Botany, 9A, school folder from 1905, which might have something of interest for all, when I get to it!! It's all the assignment, note, tests, and drawings from her high school Botany class!
I know, get on with it already. But wait for it.............. it will be worth the wait!
So, once this dreaded beautiful, brilliant red, half inch long beetle was identified as a threat to the Lily population of America, gardeners took note. Information was available on identifying this demon of the garden. Only............................... there was nothing that could be done about it initially.
We did find out that it only affected Lilies, not Daylilies or any other plants. So why my favorite plant, I mourned frequently??
Obviously, because there was a lesson to be learned, DUH!!
And usually for me it is a lesson of patience. I have a history of very little patience, wanting things done yesterday, not being able to wait for things to happen, rather always trying to force things into the direction I thought they should go. YEA, ... Right, like that was ever going to really work!!
So eventually over the next few years in garden life, the pros found out some things about this little red beetle. It has a very different life style, and one that becomes pretty easy to follow, once you know it and learn what to look for. I wish I could take pictures to show you, but I'd have to do that in someone else's gardens, because.....
I beat the Red Lily Leaf Beetle. I had only 1 this year, and GOT IT!!! My Lilies are beetle free for the first time in about 8 years. I worked diligently, even the years I was sick, I got out in the garden 3 times a day to hunt for, and destroy the beetles, their eggs and their larva, which is absolutely disgusting, take my word for it. I must have destroyed hundred of the beetles and even more eggs and larva. Most years my Lilies did continue to bloom, albeit very weakly, with leaves, riddled with messy holes and so many yellow, withered and falling off the stem daily.
Information on the red lily leaf beetle (Lilioceris lilii) is detailed on the following link:
http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/neweng/2002040522017914.html
It took diligence, consistency, perseverance, and lots and lots of patience,and about 5 years, but I finally have red lily leaf beetle-free gardens!! And here is the reward! The first sign of impending beauty:
As the buds lengthen and bulge they take on a ruby glow from within. As they get ready to burst open the color seems to emanate from within. Had the first of the Rubrums open on my birthday weekend. These are the Alinas, having a smaller plant, and more delicate flowers than their sisters getting ready to bloom.
Finally, (so much has been happening the last two days, I don't remember when the first big one bloomed) Well, whenever, I spotted the first Rubrum. And oh, such joy, such a glorious crimson bloom, so exquisite, such a fragrant scent wafting through the air. And yes, this is one flower I can smell. It has such a wonderful, sweet aroma, unlike any other flower. The fresh blooms sit up in the raised beds right by the house, so that the blossoms are on a level with my head, permeating my senses with their beauty and fragrance, when I am below on the driveway.
Okay this is the time for the drum roll!! TA DAH!!!
Look at this beauty. Isn't she something else??
Here's another, not a perfect specimen, but just as beautiful to admire.
And this one is just opening up saluting the heavens above in its entry into the gardens!
These Lilies benefit from living mulch. And I do believe they are quite happy with their hand picked companions!!
Okay here is where I need to use that Botany notebook of my grandmother's, as I do not remember the names of plant part, but will give it a stab. (not in her notes) So when the Lily blooms there is the pistil and the stamen (Wow I ended up googling it and I got it right - Wow Science from the 7th grade, and I remembered those names! Okay, good job, Mr. _____ , I can't remember your name) Just remembered it as I was editing - Fellow, Mr. Fellows!!
Anyway it is the stamen in the center surrounded by the pistils. The stamen has a very sticky end to it, to collect the pollen with. There are 6 pistils in a Lily. You can just make out there slipper-like clad ends, now a nice healthy barren pink, soon to become pollen laden and a brownish color if left to develop the pollen. I do not let all of the Rubrum flowers go through this process as it prolongs the blooms when you remove the pistils. So for my favorite flower I remove a lot of the pistils. I will leave some for the insects to enjoy, but not a majority.
It is a pretty simple process, but I thought I would take the opportunity to demonstrate it for you. You gently surround all the pistils at one time with your fingers,
and gently pull them,
up the stamen, until they are cleared.
And VOILA!! No pistils, and a longer lasting bloom!!
The closeup details of this delicate beauty are so dainty, yet subtle.
Notice the raised maroon irregular spots...... The contrasting colors of the stamen and pistils, their smoothness rising up from the rough base created by the tiny mounds on the petals, the deep lime ridges at the base of the projectiles, the hairy appendages below.
See the crimson fades as it reaches the outer extremities of the individual petals. Imagine being an insect preparing for landing, this view in sight.
Went out to get a picture of pollen on pistils, none ready today, but this is what I found ............
A Japanese Beetle, disfigured by the Milky Spore applied years back,
So guess what I did............
That's right, removed him at once, destined to be, ...............
Destroyed by the pink, flowered clogs
This is a vase full of my favorite Rubrums a few years back.
And this is a watercolor of a Lily, painted by my grandmother Fae Vira Mellish, in 1913, at the age of 27, while she was still single. Wow, she was old to be single. She married at 30 years of age - just found that out this morning, in a family genealogy.
I'm headed out to the gardens. Have an awesome day, thinking of me amid my Rubrums!!
And then bombarded by my grandkids!!
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