Transplanted......... Mirek #4 bulblets

Well I thought I better start to transplant the little guys and get them rooted and on their way.
 This is what the momma looks like from 2008. She was not fully open here and I cannot find a picture from last year although I am sure I have one! The babies (9 so far) follow planted in pots. So there are more to come as well and then standing guard is a spider.

Some cleanup and surprises

Today I cleaned up the lilies in 24 oz. plastic drink glasses and moved them out to my wood-work shop. Making room for the next round of seed growing. Much to my surprise several of the plants had begun to grow bulblets in the axils of the leaves. One plant has about 20 little bulblets coming. These plants are mixed trumpets from my garden friend in Poland. Neat!

Also happening is the germination of some of the new plantings of seed. Several other pots are showing signs as well.

This is a young plant of L. canadense (there are a couple) grown from seed sent to me by a collector in Thetford Mines, Quebec. How exciting to have them survive and grow under lights.

Asiatica "Tiny Athelete" blooms overnight

Tiny athelete opened up last night in full bloom. It is such a delightful short plant. I am looking forward to growing it in the flower beds when I have a few more bulbs. 

Thought I would throw in a couple of orchids which are blooming in this season as well.

The brightness continues

Now the seedlings from Pink Tiger Lily are starting to bloom. They have reverted to a pale orange (a little brighter here than in reality) though outside they were very pale and quite attractive. Also soon arriving are the blooms of Asiatica Tiny Athlete. Too bad the taller plants do not have much strength as there is no wind to move them back and forth and build up the stem cell walls.

I have also begun planting seeds for this springs' new batch of babies. There are many Trumpet types as well as some species. A list will follow.

A little brightness

Well the winter continues to be on the dark side as in very little sunlight. It is full moon so maybe it will herald in a  season of sunlight. There are however some bright spots here and there and one is this little pixie size lily with a big flower. I planted out a dwarf pot lily from easter several years ago and decided I would rescue some bulbs from it. This is one growing in the house and now blooming.

A very delightful little plant and much appreciated in this season. There are also a couple of Pink Tiger Lily seedlings ready to bloom in the next couple of days. They are struggling with too little light but should open nicely.

How could I get hooked again!?

Well I have always enjoyed lilies but since 2008 I have grown some of my own seedlings and now I am hooked on growing lilies!
My goal here is to hi-lite some of the plants I will be growing whether from my own crossing or the work of others. Seed is really quite easy to get from many different sources, including gathering seed in the wild. It seems that there will be many opportunities for great colors and shapes in the material I already have. Now to work up more ground or prepare more pots.

Here is a Lilium dauricum from seed gathered at Honeywood Heritage Nursery by Stan Zubrowski a number of years ago. I have a number of these seedlings at various stages and look forward to more blossoms this spring. This one bloomed for Christmas 2010 - like 3 weeks ago.

There are also a number of seedlings from seed sent to me by a gardener in Poland. You can start to see some of the source of these lilies on his Picasa Web Albums.

Here is a link to my albums including lilies.

Another thing I will try to do in future is hi-lite some Saskatchewan lily growers and breeders. One of my favourite spots to go is the Honeywood Heritage Nursery at Parkside so lets start there with a link. And some pictures from my trip there in September.

And finally a Double Tiger. This was September so there were a limited number of plants still blooming. The first couple were species if I remember correctly.

Till next time.