| Author | Content |
blmlb
Orange Park, FL
July 7, 2007
8:39 AM Post #3706400
| Here's a photo taken today of the top of my Easter lily. It has 8 blooms getting ready to open. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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blmlb
Orange Park, FL
July 7, 2007
8:41 AM Post #3706406
| Here's a photo of the whole plant. I had to back up just to get it all in the picture. It stands 6 feet, 5 inches tall. I guess it grew so tall because it only gets about 3 hours of direct sun every day. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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WeeNel
Ayrshire Scotland
(United Kingdom)
July 7, 2007
10:03 AM Post #3706609
| Are you really sure these are Easter lilies, as there are a type of lily that grows absolutely huge, yours look good anyway, planty of buds and the foliage looks good and healthey, when did you plant them, if new, maybe you added too much feed, you may have to stake them as once the flowers open, they will be really top heavy, so look out for that, happy gardening. Weenel. |
blmlb
Orange Park, FL
July 7, 2007
10:16 AM Post #3706642
| Believe it or not wee, these are the decendents of an original plant that my boss gave me and a half dozen other employees, after he had purchased them to place around his jewelry shop during Easter season. The 'believe it or not' part is that he gave me the original plant about 25 years ago. Every few years I would dig up the original bulb and break off the 'bulblets' that had formed, and plant them elsewhere. The ones in the photo (there are 3 of them) were planted in that location 2 years ago. Just a raised bed with little or no fertilizing, just adequate watering when necessary.
And yes, I will most probably have to stake them. They are already beginning to be top heavy. I'll take more photos in a few days when the blooms begin to open. |
WeeNel
Ayrshire Scotland
(United Kingdom)
July 7, 2007
10:30 AM Post #3706687
| Hi blmlb, you sure had your moneies worth eh, the kind of plants/bulbs we all love, who was it that said gardening is so expensive, these are the perfect example of the longevity of plants cared for properly, good for you, please do take a picture, be great to see these flowers in full bloom, be carefull how you stake them, the stalks as you will know are very easy to break, especially when they are as tender and soft green as yours, Good luck, get more little bulblets from them and give the origional bulbs a good end of season fertilise after working that hard, they and you deserve it, but your tonic could be a G and T WeeNel. |
blmlb
Orange Park, FL
July 7, 2007
11:00 AM Post #3706825
| weenel, I just got thru reading all the comments on the 'Jerry Baker tonic' thread. You are a real hoot! |
NatureLover1950
Vicksburg, MS
(Zone 8a)
July 7, 2007
3:46 PM Post #3707731
| Yup--WeeNell's a hoot and she knows some stuff too. I love to read her posts. That is quite an Easter lily you have there blmlb. My shasta daisies grew huge last year (much bigger than normal) but it was because I put some SuperThrive on them. WOW! I don't put that stuff on my flowers anymore! They grew so huge they completely blocked out the view of the shrub I have planted behind them. Didn't put the SuperThrive on them this year and they are (thank goodness) back to normal, lol. BTW, I like your little flower garden you have the Easter lilies in. Are you planning to grow anything on the arbor? |
blmlb
Orange Park, FL
July 7, 2007
5:02 PM Post #3707976
| Nature, I'm gonna have to check out that 'Super Thrive' stuff you mentioned. I'm originally from Texas, where everything is bigger.
The arbor you asked about does indeed already have something growing on it. You just can't see it in the photo. And, frankly, I don't even know what it is, but it will cover the arbor and grow up and halfway accross the confederate jasmine I have growing atop the open air gazebo in the background.
The photo was just taken at 5PM and the tiny bright red flowers are starting to close up. What's so good about them is that, like portulaca, they are self-seeding. I love any plant that takes care of itself, and doesn't need my help to get going every spring. I think the proper term is "lazy".
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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NatureLover1950
Vicksburg, MS
(Zone 8a)
July 7, 2007
6:46 PM Post #3708342
| Oh cypress vine! I love that--it's so pretty. I have some growing up our light pole in the back yard. The hummers love it. And you're right--it will grow for a while (Texas sized, lol). It's really tough for as delicate as it looks. |
blmlb
Orange Park, FL
July 7, 2007
6:57 PM Post #3708386
| Nature, that's what it is, cypress vine? Nice to know. I'll probably forget that in a year or 2. LOL Thank you for the ID. They have been a standard on that arbor for 3 years now. Good thing nobody ever asked me what they were. I would have looked kinda stupid when I said "Duhhhhhhhhhhhh", don't ya think?
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aspenbooboo41
Whitehall, PA
(Zone 6a)
July 7, 2007
10:13 PM Post #3709120
| I am curious to know if your cypress vines have any other color flowers than red? My father gave me two of these plants this year and I have them planted together in a pot on my front step, where they are climbing a trellis.
I am getting three colors of flowers- red, pink, and white. I am sure there were only two plants because when I got them they were in 2" pots and pretty tiny. I don't know the difference since I am new at gardening, but my father thinks it's quite impossible (even though he has seen it with his own eyes) to get more than one color flower from a plant.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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blmlb
Orange Park, FL
July 8, 2007
3:04 AM Post #3709894
| Aspen, mine are just one color, the bright red. But I'd really like to have a mix of colors like yours. Since you have red, white and pink, it seems reasonable that there might be some other shades, or colors out there. |
NatureLover1950
Vicksburg, MS
(Zone 8a)
July 8, 2007
7:19 AM Post #3710100
| I know there is also a white Cardinal vine but was not aware of the pink. That sure looks like Cardinal vine though. The mix is pretty. As far as two colors from one vine, I seen stranger things than that. Kinda like a "calico" plant, lol. |
momo125
Windsor, ON
(Zone 6a)
July 8, 2007
7:52 PM Post #3712440
| Maybe they cross pollinated... red and white mixed create pink. God is such an artist, eh? |
momo125
Windsor, ON
(Zone 6a)
July 8, 2007
7:54 PM Post #3712447
| What is the Latin name for cardinal vine? Does anyone know? I want to try to find this. |
momo125
Windsor, ON
(Zone 6a)
July 8, 2007
7:57 PM Post #3712456
| Never mind... I guess I should have googled it before I asked. It is Ipomea x multifida. |
aspenbooboo41
Whitehall, PA
(Zone 6a)
July 9, 2007
8:44 AM Post #3714185
| I checked out PlantFiles for cardinal and cypress vines, and I definitely have cypress vine. It's supposed to self-seed but since I have it in a planter, any suggestions on collecting seed ? I would love to be able to share next year! |
blmlb
Orange Park, FL
July 9, 2007
11:26 AM Post #3714817
| Aspen,
Just let the spent flowers stay on the vine. The seed pods will form and turn a lite brown. Each pod will have 3-4 seeds in it. I saved a couple hundred seeds last year. Just pick the brown pods and roll them in your hand. The pod is paper thin and the seeds, about half the size of a BB are rock hard. Very easy to harvest. |
NatureLover1950
Vicksburg, MS
(Zone 8a)
July 9, 2007
1:27 PM Post #3715239
| blmlb,
Forgot to tell you Wal Mart carries SuperThrive. It's really good stuff--not a fertilizer. It's hormones and vitamins. When we built our house, we had to have the entire back half of our 5 1/2 acres taken down about 20 feet to get a flat spot to build on so I have NO topsoil here! The SuperThrive has really helped my trees and shrubs a lot. It's in the nursery section and comes in a fairly small bottle (doesn't take very much at all to mix up a batch). |
blmlb
Orange Park, FL
July 10, 2007
8:34 AM Post #3718268
| Thanks, Nature |
aspenbooboo41
Whitehall, PA
(Zone 6a)
July 11, 2007
8:59 PM Post #3725686
| blmlb- thanks for the info about the seeds ! My plant is really taking off now, so I will be saving seeds soon. |
blmlb
Orange Park, FL
July 21, 2007
9:41 AM Post #3761927
| Well, the Easter lilies finally started to bloom. Here's a long distance shot. BTW, I just measured the tallest one. It's 6' 10" tall. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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blmlb
Orange Park, FL
July 21, 2007
9:43 AM Post #3761934
| Here's another shot 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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blmlb
Orange Park, FL
July 21, 2007
9:45 AM Post #3761938
| And one last photo. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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dmac085
Greensboro, NC
(Zone 7a)
July 21, 2007
6:23 PM Post #3763409
| Really amazing! Great photos:) |
WeeNel
Ayrshire Scotland
(United Kingdom)
July 21, 2007
7:01 PM Post #3763519
| Hi blmlb, your Easter lily's are just fantastic, I visit Florida each year in early spring, pity I am unable to see lily's like that on my visits, you better watch out or the Osprey will be looking for a nice flowery nesting site he he he, hope you get some good bulblets from them to grow on for more flowering lily's in a couple of years time, happy gardening you clever girl. WeeNel. |
easter_lily
Greentown, IN
(Zone 5a)
July 22, 2007
11:46 PM Post #3767672
| Hi, blmlb! I really don't have anything to say, but just thought I should make an appearance in this thread since it is, of course, all about me! :) (just joking!) Thank you so much for the photos and history on your astounding Easter lillies. I had NO idea they could reach such amazing heights. You've got quite a spread there in your garden! Looks like someone's got a green thumb for sure!
Thanks again for sharing!
easter_lily |
gardenerme
Orange, CA
July 23, 2007
11:31 AM Post #3768821
| blmlb: Can't stop looking at your lily! It kept ringing a bell with me. I think you may have a formosa lily. They get 6' tall, have yellow throats and propogate very well from seed. They have even become a weed in Australia! You may want to check this out. I read up on it but do not know how to add the website to a posting. Oh, and I have a baby one also, just about 2 feet tall this year. Yeeks! |
blmlb
Orange Park, FL
July 23, 2007
2:00 PM Post #3769427
| WeeNel, thank you for the compliment, although I doubt the wife would agree with you that I'm a clever girl ;-)
Easter-lily, green thumb? Don't know about that. It's usually the dirty brown fingernails that are most noticable.
gardenerme, here's an up close photo of one of the blooms that opened day before yesterday. As you can see the throat is actually a lite mint green. I don't recall that I ever saw any with yellowish throats. But I'll keep an eye on them. And, yes, they do propagate very well from seeds. But I've never tried to collect the seeds. The main bulb creates multiple bulblets each year. I plan to allow these 3 to grow undisturbed for the rest of the year. And next spring, I wouldn't be surprised to see half a dozen "main stems" coming out of the ground from each one. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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gardenerme
Orange, CA
July 23, 2007
2:08 PM Post #3769463
| Yup, the formosa lily has a yellow throat. I think that is what you have. |
Riles
Zephyrhills, FL
July 25, 2007
1:13 PM Post #3777997
| How did you care for this Easter lilly? I am in Florida also. I took an Easter lilly from a pot and planted it. It died a few months later possibly due to the heat. I watered it regularly for the first few weeks after planting. After about a month, it did not get regular water. Just wondering how you cared for yours. |
blmlb
Orange Park, FL
July 26, 2007
2:45 AM Post #3780753
| Riles, I really didn't do anything special. Didn't even fertilize it. I only watered when the rest of the garden was looking dry. It could be that the ph of my dirt is just right for the lily. I've never had it tested. I have caladiums, marigolds, and a few rain lilies in the same raised bed with the easter lily.
One thing is that the bed only gets about 4 hours of direct sun each day. The marigolds have gotten very 'leggy', and that may be the reason the lily has done so well and grown so tall. Maybe I just got lucky??? |
