In a Vase, on Monday – Last Lily Standing

Two springs ago I planted five ‘Tinilco’ Asiatic lilies and boy, did they ever come up beautifully this year! I was all set to enjoy a few weeks of their deep maroon loveliness but the gardening gods had other plans – almost all the buds were nipped off, some just a day before opening, others well before the colour started to show. Very sad. There’s still orientals, trumpets and Tiger lilies (L. lancifolium) to come, and so far, knock on a huge chunk of wood, they show no sign of whatever it was that doomed the Tinilco’s. We shall see. In the meantime, it’s Monday, when Cathy at Rambling in the Garden kindly holds space for folks all over to show off a few cut flowers from their garden. Yesterday I cut the final surviving Tinilco blooms to add to my little ikebana vase.

Yes, that’s a radish. A large radish. I should have cut in in half, because the inside is a similar colour to the lily.

Radish ‘Rido Red’

I added a single soft pink Echinacea purpurea bloom, even though it turns out to be not really wanted on this voyage, a few Ox Eye Daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare) that are starting to go to seed in the garden, and a handful of Calendula. These pot marigolds have surprised me – not only did they spring up, unbidden, from last year’s dead-headed seed pods in the kitchen garden, but they’re proving both floriferous and incredibly drought tolerant, having received no water by my hand and very little rain these past four weeks. Perky perky perky!

Echinacea and Calendula in the kitchen garden.

If we’re lucky there may be a thunderstorm or two in the next couple days; otherwise, nothing but hot sunshine in the forecast. Hope everyone has a great week!