Monday, August 6, 2018

In a Vase on Monday, I found a Lily and my missing Bomarea...

I was watering the other morning (no irrigation, all by hand...) when something caught my eye. There under the Magnolia laevifolia, nestled in the Hakonechloa...

It took me awhile to place what I was looking at, a Lily, but how? They've all bloomed. Then I remembered! A package of discount "everything store" bulbs I bought and planted late...Lilium 'Salmon Star'...aha! This is them! Two of the four bulbs at least. I guess I misjudged how big the Hakonechloa would get.

Not really so salmon, but then again they'd been fighting their way to the sun, in nothing but deep shade.

Figuring I'd enjoy them more inside than hidden in the garden, I cut the two stems and stuck them in the chartreuse vase on the dining table, where the Fatsia japonica 'Variegata' (Camouflage) was still looking good from a couple weeks ago. Oh and that annoyingly long bud on the far right? Cut much shorter about 3 minutes after I took this photo.

The Lily bulbs in the driveway stock-tank also held a surprise. Just when I thought they were all done blooming two Lilium Landini decided to shoot up in height and bust into flower. I am not complaining. Although I did not cut them, I just let them be.

Sun photos or cloudy day photos? The sun photo of this palm, with the back-ground blue sky, is cheerier.

The cloudy day (we actually had one of those last week) shows the surrounding plantings better.

Passiflora lutea and a Bomarea are racing up the furry Trachycarpus trunk...

All the way to the top.

Cloudy day photo shows the Passiflora foliage better.

The tip of the Bomarea twisted around the trunk and I lost sight of it, which was only a problem because the tip is where it throws out its blooms and I love those bright orange flowers.

As luck would have it a tall friend visited my garden last week and looking up at him I saw a flash of orange over his shoulder, at the tip-top of the palm.
Odd coincidence that tall friend is the same one who gave me the Bomarea. Would I have spotted the bloom if he hadn't been standing in that exact spot as I turned towards him? Who knows, but luckily I know where to look for the second orange explosion that will start in just a couple of days.

Weather Diary, Aug 5: Hi 92, Low 60/ Precip 0

In a Vase on Monday is hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the garden. All material © 2009-2018 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

20 comments:

  1. What a nice surprise the late lilies were! Mine are done and dusted. I've been considering adding a passiflora to a semi-shady area of my garden, and figured I should ask the queen of passions (you) for advice. Can you suggest a good one that might be hardy in a big pot?

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    1. The only Passiflora I've successfully had over winter is this P. lutea (well, and another...but that's a long story), and it's never bloomed! This year I've planted Passiflora 'Amethyst Jewel' and P. 'Snow Queen' both are flowering and may be hardy, we shall see. I am (sadly) not one to give great advice on this topic.

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  2. My L. landini are long done blooming. So lovely to have some still blooming in your garden. Love the stripe on the "salmon" lily. Pretty, no matter what it was supposed to look like. If Hakonechloa is happy, it gets big and starts moving. Mine gold one needs digging out. I think it is actually growing from the back of a stone wall right through to the front. Scared to look underneath to see if that is the case!

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    1. So are mine! Except for these two random stems.

      This Hakonechloa is probably 10 years old, so I don't think it's getting much bigger at this point. I just always underestimate it's late summer reach. Such tall stems tend to "flop" way over beyond the base of the plant that's visible in the early spring.

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  3. How cool that you noticed the Bomarea bloom/bud by looking up at your tall friend who was the one who gave you the plant. The sunny view is much cheerier, maybe because we see that other view so frequently in the other three seasons.

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    1. I do hate photographing things with a grey sky, blue is ALWAYS better.

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  4. Misjudging the size of Hakonechloa happens to me all the time. And they get bigger and bigger... but there is no complaining about that. Good looking vase, with the birthday card echoing the shape bellow.

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  5. Beautiful vase arrangement as always, but I really want to say that hand watering is the only real watering. :)

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    1. I can't imagine relying on irrigation, how would I know what my plants were up to if I didn't see them as often?

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  6. Our garden has irrigation, but there's always a need to hand water, to keep plants as happy as possible.

    Lovely lilies!

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    1. I swear next year I will be laying a few soaking hoses...

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  7. What a lovely surprise those lilies are! And I'm glad your Bomarea revealed its blooms - it looks as though you may need a telescoping lens to photograph them soon. There's lots of hand-watering going on here too, even though we have irrigation.

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    1. I am so surprised at the height of the Bomarea...I'm going to need a taller palm for it to grow up!

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  8. I am glad you mentioned what was clamoring up the palm, I was wondering. Don't you love surprise lilies?! These are the best tho. Happy IAVOM.

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    1. I'll take any surprise plant, well, except for the invasive ones.

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  9. Oh, I'm so glad you found that lily--it's gorgeous, especially with the Fatsia foliage. Most of the Hakone grass that I put in last summer died off because of no snow cover for a good portion of the winter. But a little patch of it survived. I have the opposite challenge to yours. ;-)

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    1. I divided a mature Hakonechloa a few years back and tried to establish its pieces along the bottom of our south fence. Sadly the big conifers growing next door suck all the moisture out of the ground and they just could not make a go of it. I feel your pain, sort of.

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  10. What nice lilies. Love how you use the truck of the palm as a trellis. Not sure many folks think to do that.

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    1. I've got two others that are almost tall enough for the trellis treatment, I can't wait!

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