The Lily and Me

This is a diagram of the flower I am talking about in this post....Lily. What a beautiful name for a beautiful flower...no matter what color they are.

Here is my little garden under the River Birch. The colors right now are orange and chartreuse. These aren't my favorite colors although in the late 60's and 70's I had my kitchen painted and wallpapered with these bright colors...now...I tend to go for the more subdued pinks, roses, grays and blues...but these lilies were here when I moved here. Instead of moving them to a more inconspicuous spot in the yard, I have tried to get along with them. They only last for a couple of weeks and they look so striking from the street. For the rest of the year this little garden is quite dark. A very dry spot where trees take the moisture away from the plants.

Combining the orange and lime green brings out the yellow in both plants. They seem to do well in both shade and full sun. The colors are different in those two lights. They take on a darker shade of orange in the shade and almost a neon appearance in the full sun. They are in clumps all over the yard. They look like a big bouquet of orange. I think they look quite pretty with the limey green hostas and the reddish mulch underneath. They would be pretty combined with some blues and even purples.

When they start to fade, I pick off the tops and am left with stiff bright green foliage. That's when the other lilies take over. I didn't always like lilies, but now...I count them as one of my favorites. They always look so fresh and crisp.....and the Japanese beetles leave them alone. At Easter our Church is full of beautiful white Easter lilies. One Priest, that we had years ago, was allergic to them. How could we have and Easter without them? We pulled out the stamens and that probably reduced the pollen and he took an allergy pill. They were only decorating the Church for a short time. That year we combined lilies with different Spring blooming plants. It was heavenly. We all brought lilies home and planted them in our gardens. I have a cluster of them planted on the west side of the house. They bloom every year and bring back memories of that Priest. Achoo!

Balisha :)