Green Mountain Gardener

Orienpet 'Conca d' Or'

As a gardener, I tend to go through phases… I can recall several… a poppy phase, a rose phase, a succulent phase, a yellow phase, a peach phase, a purple phase, a peach mixed with purple phase…  you get the idea.  My current obsession is lilies.  I can’t seem to help but be enamored with the Orienpets, Aurelian hybrids, and Martagons.  The color-soaked petals curve back on themselves to reveal enormous, pollen-drenched anthers.  Over the summer I had a potted lily on the front porch.  While in bloom, every time I walked through the front door to the porch I was greeted by its delicious fragrance.  This soon became one of my favorite early morning rituals.  I would stumble toward the coffee maker, grab a mug full of coffee, get my dog, and out we’d go.  I don’t know if she enjoyed the smell as much as I did, but she certainly didn’t seem to mind.

The early morning is my favorite time of day, especially in summer.  I have a favorite chair on the porch where I go and watch the world wake up.  The darkness gives way to yellows, then orange and purple, and finally the sleepy greens and blues.  Before I know it, the urge to get in the garden takes over.  I can never just sit and enjoy it as long as I’d like.

If you work it right, you can have lilies blooming in your garden from May through September.  Martagons prefer morning sun with dappled shade in the afternoon, and bloom from May through June.  I have found a couple varieties of Martagons through Brent and Becky’s Bulbs and McClure and Zimmerman.  For a larger selection, visit The Lily Nook.  They are located in Canada, but will ship to the United States  for a $10 Phytosanitary Certificate fee.  Also note that they will only ship to the US in the fall.  Asiatics bloom from June to July, and some will bloom into August.  They are rather hardy, and easy to grow.  Orienpets, a cross of Oriental and Trumpet lilies, bloom from mid July to late August.  I have found The Lily Garden to be a great mail order resource for Asiatics, Trumpets, Orienpets, and Species Lilies.