Martagon Lily Update

bLast fall, I purchased and planted some martagon lily bulbs. Martagon lilies are shade loving plants, which is great for a yard full of tall oaks that provide lots of lightly dappled shade.  I have never seen martagons in person, but from what I've read, they have whorled foliage that emerges early in the season, and will develop small waxy flowers with recurved petals.  Martagons are slow to increase, which is nice if you don't want to disturb your plantings, but not so much if you want them to multiply in your gardens. From what I have read, they can also lay dormant the first year that they're planted, depending upon the size of the bulb.  So I wasn't sure what to expect of them this spring.  When would they emerge?  What would they look like?  Would I even see them this year?  Well, the good news is that two of three varieties I planted last year are starting to grow!  Here's how they looked today.

The third variety hasn't emerged yet, but I'm not going to give up hope because it was a small, small little bulb compared to the other two.  The one that hasn't sprouted yet is the Pink Attraction martagon, and here's a picture of what it will hopefully look like in my garden some day.

I'd love to hear from other bloggers who may have experience with these understated beauties!

The Daffs Are Blooming! The Daffs Are Blooming!

Look what was greeting me today when I got home!

Not only that, but it was 82 degrees today!  82!  Minnesotans everywhere were giddy as school children on the last day of school, and working in a school, I'm very familiar with that feeling!  Do we spoil the excitement by looking at the weather report for the next few days?  No, because we know we're going to pay for this 82 degrees and we will no doubt have another day in the 40's sometime soon.  That's spring in Minnesota.  But for today, we enjoyed it as if it were summer!

Here are some other blooms in the gardens.

Minnesota spring

Oops - here was a draft of a post from Spring 2010 that didn't make it out of draft stage, for some reason.  I thought it would be fun to post it now - just thinking of things to come (wishfully thinking, I might add)

Draft from March 24, 2010:


Of course, spring in Minnesota means crazy temps. Last week we had 60 degrees, and today it's barely above freezing. The daffodils have about an inch of stem peeking up out of the ground. Rhubarb is actually making an appearance, as are some of my asiatic lilies. I'm just hoping it really hits 70 degrees next week as is currently forecast. Wouldn't that make a nice spring break.


There is still a lot of raking to do in the lawn. As I was out there today (freezing, I might add!), I was thinking about how to expand the shade garden by the road. I read a great article about martagon lilies in Northern Gardener this month. Too bad they're hard to find and take even longer to come to bloom. But in ten years I'll have wished I had taken the time to plant some now. It seems from my little research that they're fall planting bulbs. I would love to connect with some Minnesota gardeners who have had success with these flowers.


The good news is that I actually DID plant six martagon bulbs this past fall.  Now I know why I don't see them in gardens, they were expensive!  I had a strange, guilty feeling spending $30 on a flower bulb.  But why not?  It's a small indulgence... other people have their expensive vices... I don't smoke, gamble, travel, shop, or even drink all that often (which I type as I'm enjoying a nice bottle, I mean glass, of wine).  So what's $30 to add a touch of beauty to our yard?  Well, $30 times six, and you get the picture.  So this small indulgence was a little more than small, but I'm not at all regretting the purchase.  Unless, of course, the bulbs never produce.  That's the thing about martagons - I understand that they take years to flower.  But we could all use a lesson in delayed gratification in our culture of instant pleasure.  I just had to spend $180 to learn the lesson.  Isn't it ironic?

End of the Gardening Season - really this time

I've planted every bulb that I've ordered this fall, as of yesterday, so I'd say that the gardening season is officially over here.  I have no plans to move anything else, plant anything else, separate anything else, or otherwise do anything that requires tending to any garden of any type until spring.  It makes me a little more than sad.  However, I did get a Gurney's catalog in the mail last week, so I guess that means that it's time to start planning for next year.

What's first on my "to-do" list for the next gardening season? Probably moving the oriental lilies that I just ended up planting in the vegetable garden because I had already covered all of the gardens with leaves by the time these arrived, and I didn't feel like trying to figure out where they should go.  Second will be preparing beds around the large boulders that we recently brought to the yard from the garages.  There's always plenty to do in the garden, which is part of the beauty of it.

Fall Perennial Order

The fall catalogs are arriving - a bittersweet thing.  It means the season is almost over, but it also means planning for fall plantings to enjoy next year.  Here's what's on my wish list (including where I plan to plant it so I don't forget!):

From Bluestone Perennials:

Grape Hyacinth   (Shade Garden)
Scilla (Shade Garden)
Hyacinth (Blue Ice - a light blue one, and Blue Jacket - -a dark blue) (Garage Border)
Snowdrops (Shade Garden)
Lime Frost Daylily (Driveway Border)

I'm also ordering some more oriental lilies from John Scheepers to enhance my garden this time of year next year when a lot of things are past peak.  I ordered five of each so I can plant some in the garage boarder, driveway border, and maybe even around the shed.

Miniature Oriental Lily Mona Lisa
Garden Party

 Sheila

and some more spring bulbs:
English Bluebells (Shade Garden)
Allium (Driveway Border)

About two weeks ago the kids and I doubled the size of the shade garden.  The soil was actually pretty good when I tilled it up - I just had to add some peat moss and it looks really good.  I just divided up some of my perennials and moved a few more to fill it in.  We also tilled up a little garden around the shed and put some more sun loving things there.  I can't wait to see how things fill in next summer!

Other plans for the shed and garage next year - WINDOW BOXES!!!

Martagons, here I come!

Lilium Martagon

Lilium x dalhansonii

We recently expanded the shade garden and now I'm ready to add some martagons to the mix.  Martagon lilies are shade loving plants.  Their attractive whorled foliage emerges early in the season.  The small waxy flowers have recurved petals and are noted for their tremendous substance plus wide color range.  Martagons are slow to increase, which is nice if you don't want to disturb your plantings, but not so much if you want them to multiply in your gardens.  Here are the varieties I've ordered for this fall.

Lilium Martagon var. Album