My Blooming Lily Border
My long and winding pergola is full of striking orange-colored tiger lily blooms.
This pergola, located on one side of a carriage road behind my Tenant House, goes through several transformations during the year. In late spring, a palette of bold purple and white alliums covers the area, followed by the delicate shades of lavender and blue from the flowering clematis vines that wrap around each of the granite posts. Now, hundreds of brightly spotted tiger lilies with their graceful nodding heads line the garden bed for all to see - it's quite a show.
Here are the photos - enjoy.
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- Tiger lilies, Lilium lancifolium, bloom in mid to late summer, are easy to grow, and come back year after year.
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- Native to China and Japan, these robust flowers add striking beauty to any border. I love how they look with their bright and showy orange colored blooms.
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- In early June, this pergola is usually filled with knee to waist high lily stems, with a few poppies and purple alliums.
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- By late June, some of the lily stems are already about four-feet tall. During this time, it is the bold green of all the foliage that stands out.
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- In early July, all the lily stems are even taller and more uniform.
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- Here is the border a week later – hints of creamy orange have emerged and the bed is brimming with lily buds.
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- By mid July, there are even more buds and a few opened flowers.
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- As the days progress more buds appear. This pergola gets tons of light, which is great for lilies. For best growth, plant lilies in an area where they can get at least six to eight hours of sun per day.
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- And here is the pergola earlier this week – look at all the gorgeous tiger lilies.
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- Tiger lilies are covered with black or deep crimson spots, giving the appearance of the skin of a tiger.
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- They have large, down-facing flowers, each with six recurved petals. Many flowers can be up to five-inches in diameter.
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- These flowers are very hardy, and most stand well on their own, but to give them some support, we added stakes along the border and strung some natural jute twine along the length of the pergola about a foot above the row of boxwood.
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- While these lilies are at their peak, I wanted to cut some to bring with me to Skylands, my home in Maine. Here’s Ryan cutting those flowers with blooms that are just about to open.
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- Ryan carefully holds them upside down, so the blooms don’t get crushed during the process. These dramatic flowers can last up to two-weeks when cut.
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- Lilies are well-known for having heavily pollenated stamens, which stain. Here, it is easy to see those pollen filled anthers.
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- Once the lilies are cut, our gardening intern, Kayley Presby-Gaines, removes the foliage below the bloom.
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- The leaves are easy to remove – just carefully pull them down the stem and into a bucket.
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- Removing the anthers, which carry the pollen, can prevent a clothing disaster, so Kayley also pinches them off with her fingers.
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- Lilies are one of the top cut flowers in the world because of their long vase life and flower form. All the stems were quickly placed into buckets of water.
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- I wanted quite a bit, so Ryan continued to cut lilies – choosing various spots, so the border still looked full and beautiful. Mature lily bulbs can produce up to 10-blossoms per stem, growing larger and more productive each year.
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- If you recall, many of these lily bulbs were originally planted across the carriage road and transplanted to this location about three years ago.
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- As Ryan clipped them, he gently placed them in small piles. The team worked in an efficient production line – there were lots of lilies to gather.
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- When cutting, measure how much stem is needed to fit the vase selected. Since we’re using many different vessels for our flowers, Ryan kept the stems long.
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- Here are Ryan’s pollen stained gloves – it’s always a good idea to wear gloves and clothes you don’t mind getting dirty.
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- Tiger lilies are also not fussy about soil as long as it is well-drained.
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- When carrying bunches of lilies, be sure to handle them with care as they can bruise easily.
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- Most of the lilies were cut from the inside of the pergola – our border is still quite eye-catching.
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- These lilies look so beautiful, even in these simple flower buckets – you will love how we arrange them in Maine. Be sure to check my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48 to see these lovely blooms.
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