A woodland or ornamental garden walk on sunny days of July isn't complete at London Town without Lilies treating your visual and olfactory senses. They are grand, fragrant, some spotted-dangling down and others loaded with luscious fragrance.
Tiger Lilies, Lilium lancifolium, is a downward facing lily. A swath of these bright Tiger Lilies adorns the spring and winter walk. Their bright orange petals, with dark brown spots resemble the tigers skin and the butterflies absolutely adore them. Sun or part shade would do just fine to grow them. But as gorgeous as they are, they lack the robust Lily aroma.
A true treat for your olfactory nerves are the Casa Blancas, Stargazers, or the large trumpet lilies. Lilies are a popular cut flower because of its sturdy flower shape and lingering aroma. But watch your nose and clothes as you draw closer to smell the lilies, their pollen can be a big stain master!
London Town has an acre of ornamental gardens, where you will find some nice varieties of hybrids such as Stargazers, Casa Blancas and trumpet lilies. One of the borders has Casa Blancas in the back row, close to a wooden fence for added support. Right in front of the large Casa Blancas are sedums planted in a mass which start their blooms as the lilies drop.
Lily bulbs will thrive when their base isn't disturbed. Leave room for their bulbils to drop and regrow, leave room for the mother blub to multiply and grow and mostly leave room in your yard where you can sit and enjoy the blooms up close. Lilies to me are natures perfection of a flower.
Here is a neat link to Lilies cultivation and care: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/yard-and-garden-planting-lilies
Also, here are also two links to Lililum formosanum, one of my favorite fragrant lilies and a link to wild Lilies:
Amongst the many ornamental lilies we will be adding this autumn, we also hope to give home to one of the wild Mid-Atlantic Lilies, Lilium superbum, Turkscap Lily: http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=d880
True lily beauty is certainly of those found in the wild. Leaving you with a wild lily that I enjoyed watching in the woods of Pacific Northwest: Washington Lily, Lilium washingtonianum: https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/lilium_washingtonianum.shtml
If you come to London Town, make sure to trek down the spring and winter walk to enjoy the Tiger Lilies and, if you catch a butterfly visiting it, please snap and share!
Mini Succulent Workshop
You can now have a lively hands-on experience with succulents right here at London Town on Saturday, August 1st during the Mini Succulent Workshop. Follow the link on: www.historiclondontown.org/events.