Dr. Griesbach's Lecture at CBG

LO Lily Pink Heaven


The annual lecture series of the Wisconsin-Illinois Lily Society begins with a lecture and slideshow by Dr. Robert Griesbach, Professor Emeritus of Biologic Sciences at De Paul University, entitled "New Hybrids: The Future of Lilies" on January 16th, Sunday at 2:00 PM. The venue will be at the Chicago Botanic Garden and is open to the public.

For more information, please email Mr. Imberman,WILS President, at lilygrower82@aol.com.

Planted Bulbs And Some Updates

I decided to do another post before I go back to work tomorrow. This is like the second part of the Planting Bulbs In Winter with some updates on the plants growing in the basement.

For starters of this post are images of the bulbs that were planted yesterday. The crinums were not potted up. Since they thrive on neglect in the south, I think it would not bother them if I store them in a cool dry place until spring time when it is best for them to be planted. Most of my crinums are dormant anyway except for the Asiaticum and the Amarcrinums. They seem to like the heat of the grow lights or maybe they are the varieties that doesn't go through dormancy.

Amaryllis Belladonna bulbs


E. toulumnense bulbs

Last spring, Mr.McGregor's Daughter posted some images of E. Pagoda flowers and I really liked them. The flowers are lily-like, and you all know that the genus Lilium is so dear to my heart. Some varieties have spotted leaves which is an added bonus to the beautiful flowers.


E. Kondo bulbs


E. albidum bulbs from eBay. I hope these are the real thing.


N. Amadeus Mozart bulbs


N. Winston Churchill bulbs


A block of frozen soil. I have to wait few hours before I can break it in half.


And overnight thawing is needed before the soil can be utilized.


Potted Belladonna topped with grits (aquarium pebbles, my version), which I've learned from Chris of Rooftop Horticulture.


The other Belladonna bulb. I have to get some more of the pink aquarium pebbles for this pot.


I checked the dates of the Hansonii baggie and a no tag one and they have spent three months in the fridge already. The scales were put in a damp peat moss, spent 3 months in dark warm place and then another 3 months in the fridge for vernalization. If my method is wrong, please correct me.



This is the lone Pardalinum bulblet.


Here is one of the Koures pots. Just how amazing a couple of days exposure to light has made the bulblets' first leaf turn green.


Having about fifty bulbs and bulblets of Lycoris radiata, I have to find a planter that will fit them all in. I am running out of space in the basement. I found this gift wrap container and thought this is the perfect planter. There is a perfect spot for it in the growing area. It measures 33 inches long, 8 inches deep and 12 inches wide.


Here is my messy growing area in the basement. Cybister Lima is sending up a scape and I am excited. I hope my other amaryllises will do the same.




I was outside today with my DD and took some pics from the garden. The next two were taken today and the rest were taken few days/weeks ago.


Azalea 'Maximum Roseum'


Rhodie 'Nova Zembla', a big box store rescue.


Bridal Wreath Spirea


When I started gardening, I was big on sedums. I had these plants for a few years now. I leave them outside in winter time just like how they are in this pic and they come back year after year.


There are four different kinds of groundcover sedums in this planter: Acre, Dragon's Blood, Ellacombianum and Angelina.

Planting Bulbs In Winter

I have been working a lot of hours lately and boy am I glad that I am off work for the next four days. Now I have the chance to plant the bulbs that I have accumulated from trades and from Brent and Becky's fall bulb sale. Also, some of my lily bulblets that were stored in the fridge were begging to be planted.

These are the bulbs from B and B. They arrived the day we had the first snowstorm. I have already dug the holes for them and even had my husband picked up some garden soil from Home Depot as back fill a few days before the snowstorm. Sometimes the best laid plans don't work the way we wanted it to be. Mother nature didn't cooperate.


These are Lycoris radiata bulbs from trade that I have completely forgotten. I put them in a mesh bag and stored them in one corner of the basement. When I remembered about them they are already growing. The Lycoris radiatas are not hardy to zone 5, so these plants will be grown just like my amaryllises and crinums.


Here are some heirloom crinums from a trade.


A couple of Crinum 'Stars and Stripes' bulblets. They are the size of a daffodil bulb. It will probably take two years for them to bloom. I think it is worth the wait knowing the bloom will look like the next image.


This Crinum 'Stars and Stripes' image is courtesy of Smurfboy1977 of West Virginia.


Hermodactylus tuberosa bulbs.


Also known as "Snake's head Iris" and "Widow Iris". At first glance, the flower look like an iris but on closer inspection it lacks the vexillum tepals. Its name is derived from Hermes,the messenger of gods and the rest is "fingers"= Hermes's fingers. Native to Europe. Photo was taken from Brent and Becky's site.


Glad I potted them up today. They will overwinter in the coldest part of the basement and hope they will bloom for me in the spring.


I rescued these Muscari armeniacum bulbs from Walmart. I brought home three bags with thirty bulbs in a bag.


Daff Pheasant's Eye(Poeticus Recurvus)bulbs.


The daff Pheasant's Eye and the Muscaris were planted in this huge pot.


One of the pots that I've cleaned last fall that I am going to reuse for lily seed planting in early spring.


The pot has big holes at the bottom so used some drywall tape.


Last year, I rescued a lot of boxed amarylisses and never used the pots that came with them. They don't have holes so I asked my hubby to put some in them and he used his Drill Press. Nice and easy.


Here is L. pardalinum, snug as a bug planted in the pot. This is grown from scales. This species is not a good multiplier.


This is how the bulblet look like when I pulled it out from the bag of peat moss it was stored in.


Here is bag of LA lily Koures grown from scales.


I counted nineteen healthy bulblets from the bag.




LA lily Koures growing in my garden.


Last spring, I obtained a huge bulb of Martagon Hansonii from my local lily society, scaled it and got three bulblets.


Lily breeder Bill Cramer sent me of what he thought is a Hansonii hybrid bulb. I scaled it and here are the bulblets. Like the Hansonii species bulblets, they still need vernalization, so I put them back in the fridge.


Here are OT Saltarello bulblets from scales. This lily multiplies like crazy. Here is the previous post when I scaled the bulb:Scaling A Lily Bulb.


I am forcing a few Hyacinths, they have lots of healthy roots growing already. It's my first time to force bulbs.


I found L. formosanum sending up a new growth after a couple of months dormancy. I grew this lily from seed, hope it will bloom for me next year.

Happy holidays!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Covered Bridge Festival

We spent four days last October in Parke County Indiana for the Covered Bridge Festival. Headquartered in Rockville since 1957. Boasting thirty one bridges that were all located in Parke County. The covered bridges were all restored to their old glory. For more info, please click on the above link.

We drove through dirt roads and in the middle of the forest to see these bridges. The added bonus to the trip was the changing colors of the leaves of the trees.

The Covered Bridge Festival also has miles and miles long flea markets along the highways.












While bridge hopping, we drove past an Amish property. It is so neat to see their buggies parked like cars in this modern era we are living in today.

We stopped by one of the Amish owned nurseries and as I was making a plant selection, an Amish lady came out of the house to tell us that they are closed on Sundays. Oh well.












While we were on the dirt road looking for another bridge that's marked on the map, we stumbled upon this older house tucked in the middle of nowhere. The house is in great shape, it just need some landscaping.


An entrance to the 'Drunk Tank' of the old prison in Rockville.