Tag: liliums

Loving the St Josephs Lilies

Post author By Christine
Post date October 26, 2011
8 Comments on Loving the St Josephs Lilies

I love all the St Josephs Lilies I have flowering in the garden right now. My favourite bulb planting, the Asiatic and Longifolium Lilies have more than delivered and this little area of the garden is a mass of flowers. I had intended to cut these for indoor use but they look so stunning in the garden I can’t bring myself to to take the scissors to them. There are two Lilies that are as tall as I am, tucked behind the tree. It is as if they are growing taller so they can bend and curl around the tree and mix with the crowd in front. The result is a fabulous view of Lilies from all angles of the bed.

Of all the bulbs I planted, these are by far my favourites and I will expand on this collection next year. I’m pretty sure I didn’t order the yellow ones – I suspect they were in the “free” pack I was given, but I love the burst of yellow in and amongst all the white. I think it works rather well. And the foliage before and after blooms? not bad at all. I rather like the tall stems and the waxy rich green leaves. Planted in and around the Azaleas, it’s worked well as the Asiatic Lilies started blooming as the Azaleas finished their show, and the Longifolium Lilies started blooming as the Asiasitcs finished theirs. Works for me!

Isn’t Spring a wonderful thing?

[one_half][/one_half]

[one_half_last][/one_half_last]

[one_half][/one_half]

[one_half_last][/one_half_last]

[one_third][/one_third]

[one_third_last][/one_third_last]

[one_half][/one_half]

[one_half_last][/one_half_last]

[one_half][/one_half]

[one_half_last][/one_half_last]

Happy Gardening
xxx

Tags lilium, lilium longifolium, liliums, st josephs lilies

Christine's garden Gardening Home page features Perenniels

Lily Love

What’s not to love about these lovely salmon pink Asiatic Lilies? They are easy to grow, thriving in a shaded position, putting on a splendid show now that the Azaleas having finished flowering. According to the books, Asiatic lilies are among the easiest to grow. They’re very hardy, need no staking, and are not particularly fussy about soil, as long as it drains well (although they do better if you add a good mulch and plant them in compost enriched soil).

Here are my newest Bloomers …

[one_half][/one_half]

[one_half_last][/one_half_last]

[one_third][/one_third]

[one_third_last][/one_third_last]

See? Whats not to love?

Happy Gardening
xxx

Tags asiatic lilies, lilium, liliums

Christine's garden Design Gardening Home page features Perenniels

All about Change – the Azalea bed, then and now

Post author By Christine
Post date September 4, 2011
39 Comments on All about Change – the Azalea bed, then and now

If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies. ~ Author Unknown

I’ve long hung on to the overgrown trees I inherited in my garden, believing that excessive cutting back or pruning would change things radically. I was wary of changing things too much. Mostly, I was wary of losing my fiercely guarded privacy. You see, I’m a very private person, reclusive some will tell you. And mostly, I liked it that way.

And then I started this blog, and suddenly, things were a bit less private. Strangers were “looking” over my walls and into my garden. It actually felt quite nice. Some of those strangers have become gardening buddies and I look forward to their virtual visits to my garden and mine to theirs. Then it dawned on me … perhaps cutting back a tree or two to let in some more light was not such a bad thing after all. Maybe just prune back a little … and so we did. And guess what? Nothing terrible happened. In fact, the sun peeped through and it made both the plants and me smile a bit. Perhaps time to prune back a bit more? Let more light in? Why not?

Get the tree feller in, see what he says. He said two trees HAD to go or they would cause problems with the foundations of my house within the next two years. Oh dear … more loss of privacy? He chopped them down. Then he cut back the others. Hard. Quite a shock to my system. It’s taken quite a while for me to get used to all the light (and seeing some neighbour roofs). But I’m still here, nothing bad happened and … now I like it! I can see the mountain – I have a view! And I see the sun and the sun sees my plants and they seem to be smiling back with their lovely blooms.

Today I’d like to share with you the jungle I was hiding in and how I have transformed this area which I call the “Azalea Bed” over the last three years …

Before – no light, no sun, just overgrown trees

After – Now in September 2011

More “Before and Afters”

[one_half]Before – Dexter as a puppy[/one_half]

[one_half_last]The same area (and Dexter) today[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Another “before” with baby Dex[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Today Lilies & Azaleas grow here[/one_half_last]

My “brag book” – the way it looks today

(click to enlarge)
[one_half]The way it looks today[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Can you see the Mountain?[/one_half_last]

[one_third]Azaleas and Lilies[/one_third]

[one_third]Looking to the mountain[/one_third]

[one_third_last]Looking from the other view[/one_third_last]

The last photograph shows the bed from the other side (with the mountain behind me). There is of course still work to be done in the front of the bed and once the Tulips have died down in the bed opposite the Lilies & Azaleas I will be planting perennials in there (not doing the Tulips again next year).

I should probably have waited to show this when all the Lilies are blooming and when the Prunus is covered in blossoms … but I’ll just have to show you how it looks then again … it will be another whole new look. I can’t wait!

Happy Gardening
xxx

Tags azaleas, before and after, liliums, nandina, nandina pygmaea, trees, tulips