Orientals - Lilies, that is

Opening day for Lillium 'Casa Blanca' 

Late July is when the Lillium 'Casa Blanca' finally blooms with its intoxicating scent. It is an old favorite of gardeners and was an old favorite of Frank, who planted it in the church garden many years ago. I have already shared shots of this lily everywhere I could.

The backdrop for the lilies includes annual blue salvia and red dragon wing begonias, but just outside of this photo frame, patches of bright yellow tall African marigolds are adding a bright note to the garden. So even though pink predominates in much of the garden, we have the primary colors well represented as well.

There are four main lilliums, the easter lily, the asiatic, the trumpet and the oriental, although a recent hybrid is becoming more popular, the orienpet.

I remember Frank bragging about the height and high bud count of the Casa Blanca lily at his condo. I hope he would be pleased that the Casa Blanca lilies have survived for years here at the church gardens that he dreamed up--and dreamed about all winter!

Right next to the Casa Blanca is a pink lily with a name unknown to me and not nearly as stunning. I photographed it after the sprinklers had spread the stain of its pollen. I was a day late and even though these flowers last a few days (unlike DAYlilies), it is ideal to photograph them at their peak--when they first open.

Another oriental beauty

A Patch of Daylilies

This evening on the way out of Uncle J.'s place, I snapped a shot of this gorgeous daylily on my phone, zoning in on it with selective focus.

The daylilies are the stars of the July garden. Last year deer jumped a back fence and dined on every single bud in the patch of daylilies pictured below. The bud counts are high and the stalks are about half spent now. I removed some of the collapsed "mushmummies" to tidy the appearance a bit. A few weeds remain in the mix, but these daylilies were certainly dominating the scene in gorgeous style today!

Turning an Endless Summer Hydrangea Blue

At the church where I am in charge of the flower gardens once again this year there are 10 Endless Summer hydrangeas that bloom in various shades of pink. There are three shrubs in the lower level shadier garden and I decided to try to turn them blue this year. I made sure I got the right stuff (purchased Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier in a blue bag) but I didn't apply it until early May. The instructions are to re-apply in 60 days or until desired shade is reached. Well, it might be too late for this year, because they are breaking into bloom this week, after a week of highs in the low 90's.

The above photo was taken today. One of the three hydrangeas is trending bluish! There is one blossom that is actually trending purple. 

Another established hydrangea which gets more sunshine is loaded with blooms, but nary a blue one yet--even though I treated them with similar amounts of the sulfur acidifier (otherwise known as aluminum sulfate).

Endless Summer Hydrangea loaded and ready to bloom big.

I have also planted (white) diamond frost euphorbia, white Sun (New Guinea) impatiens, white (the new hybrid) Bounce impatiens and blue/white lobelia, with the hope of a complete blue and white theme.

Oh well. Maybe next year I will achieve an all-blue look ...  if I remember to apply the sulfur!

But I think that the confused, multi-colored look is looking plenty gorgeous!