Drifts of orange day lilies are just so gorgeous up north. We certainly have some great bulbs, tubers, and rhizomes that I simply adore here in Florida. These include beautiful crinums, agapanthas, African irises, amaryllis, cannas, peace, blood, hurricane, bulbine, and spider lilies. And then there are elephant ears, gingers, and caladiums. They are all special and delightful in their own way.
I have a fabulous bank of pink crinum lilies in full sun in the driveway.
I have extra sensational agapanthas bulbs.
I have a few tree lilies.
And my water lily is STUNNING!
Gotta love all the different varieties of gingers!
I even planted a terrific edge of bright pink rain lilies last week (sorry no pictures yet they just sprung up from the tubers, pretty exciting!).
Here’s a look at my first year African Iris, also known as “Fortnight Lily.”
Another bulb I enjoy is amaryllis. Even the one I purchased at Tractor Supply bloomed magnificently for me in December.
This is a photo of walking iris.
Did you know that spider plants are also in the lily family?!?!! And… they can be planted outside!
New bulb photos coming soon of pineapple lily, hawaiian punch elephant ears, queen emma crinum lily, chinese beauty shell ginger, scarlet fever ginger, and walking iris.
I really wanted to take a stab and daylilies. I always see such beautiful orange rows when I visit northern states. So, I googled daylilies in Florida and found they do grow here according to the University of Florida’s IFAS web site. After googling some more, I came across a fantastic nursery in central Florida! BINGO. Dan Hansen of Ladybug Daylilies in Geneva, Florida breeds tens of acres of lilies without shade cloth or expensive fertilizers. His specimens are tried and true and acclimated to our tough subtropical conditions.
So after spending an inordinate amount of time drooling over his collection, I ordered a breed from his 2012 hybrids. I selected Desiderata because I really liked the combination of purple and orange with semi-frilly petals. These were planted under a Bismarck palm that backs up to a row of loropetalum that blooms magenta frilly flowers and has dark burgundy leaves that turn orange. I think the combination will look stunning. It didn’t hurt that, because it was an older variety, it was less expensive. I knew not what to expect but I did it any way.
A few days later, I received approximately 17 tubers with the pretty developed leaves chopped off. They looked healthy and I planted them pronto. They didn’t come with any instructions. Since I received them in May and the lily variety indicated it was a mid-year blooming variety, I hoped I could see some flowers this summer. I honestly had no idea what to expect.
I filled the holes I dug with good garden soil and watered them well. Three weeks later and I have a bloom stalk! YAY! Can’t wait for the rest to stalk out and bloom. By the looks of the one I have, it will probably be small its first season here. Only time will tell but I’ll be sure to update this post to let you know.
Here’s a quick video that also includes a look at a few zinnias that grew from seed I threw down under the palm tree.
June 20th Update
And here it is! The first daylily to bloom of the lot. There are a couple more getting ready to blossom as well. Stay tuned for more updates.
