Dizzy
Saturday, February 14, 2009
A peaceful morning here on the mountain. Eleven blue jays are enjoying a cracked corn feast as half a moon fades into slumber on one side of the house and the sun climbs up through the tamaracks and above Peacham Pond on the other side. It should be a nice day.
Valentine's Day is sometimes a dizzying event. Romance can do that to you. The Oriental lily featured above is named Dizzy and it is always an attention getter and its name always encourages interesting comments. We don't grow lilies for sale any more because of the insidious lily leaf beetle but lilies are sure to arrive in Valentine's Day arrangements and packages of cut flowers. It's sad to us that the beetle has knocked us out of that business as at one time we had the largest retail sales of potted lilies in Vermont and probably the largest number of varieties in New England. I've written about the lily beetle before so just plug "lily leaf beetle" into the search area up above and you'll get to know the problem.
Lilies make a great florist flower and in fact the hundreds of varieties available at florists every year is the result of the demand placed on the floral industry to come up with new and interesting color combinations each year. Most all lilies in major floral production are now grown in greenhouses with dozens of bulbs planted side by side in black plastic crates. The lilies are forced into beauty, cut and processed and then the spent bulbs are discarded and the process starts again. We would probably have problems throwing away bulbs but that's just how it works.
Here are a few pictures to think of on Valentine's Day. They are easy to grow but think through the beetle before you commit to trying some.
Lollypop
Kiss Proof
Dutch Red
Arena
Partner
Smokey Mountain
Red Claret
Red Canadence
Sorbet
Sphinx
Valentine's Day is sometimes a dizzying event. Romance can do that to you. The Oriental lily featured above is named Dizzy and it is always an attention getter and its name always encourages interesting comments. We don't grow lilies for sale any more because of the insidious lily leaf beetle but lilies are sure to arrive in Valentine's Day arrangements and packages of cut flowers. It's sad to us that the beetle has knocked us out of that business as at one time we had the largest retail sales of potted lilies in Vermont and probably the largest number of varieties in New England. I've written about the lily beetle before so just plug "lily leaf beetle" into the search area up above and you'll get to know the problem.
Lilies make a great florist flower and in fact the hundreds of varieties available at florists every year is the result of the demand placed on the floral industry to come up with new and interesting color combinations each year. Most all lilies in major floral production are now grown in greenhouses with dozens of bulbs planted side by side in black plastic crates. The lilies are forced into beauty, cut and processed and then the spent bulbs are discarded and the process starts again. We would probably have problems throwing away bulbs but that's just how it works.
Here are a few pictures to think of on Valentine's Day. They are easy to grow but think through the beetle before you commit to trying some.
Lollypop
Kiss Proof
Dutch Red
Arena
Partner
Smokey Mountain
Red Claret
Red Canadence
Sorbet
SphinxFrom the mountain above Peacham Pond where backyard bird counts are about ready to begin. Click on the link and involved!
Sweet garden wishes,
George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Sweet garden wishes,
George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
