Yes, I’ve been watching the spikey stems grow taller and spindlier by the day, but nonetheless was gobsmacked to come outside one morning last week and find that suddenly, during a moment when my back was turned, the lilies bloomed. These are the early ones; the freckled oriental lilies will open later in the summer.
I had plenty of opportunity to admire them this afternoon as I deadheaded roses and pulled out the last of the California poppies before they can spread their seed too exuberantly around the front garden. The roses are spent; I’ve cut off almost all of the dead blooms, and last week I fertilized them in hope of inspiring a second round of blossoms before the end of the month.
Now that it has warmed up – suddenly and dramatically, from low seventies the last couple of weeks to high nineties today – we’ll see how the drought water management works. All the plants are well-established by now, so I’m hoping all of them can tough it out on 20% less water than they got last year. At least the lilies seem happy, and any day now the first agapanthus will be in bloom.
Comments welcome