A Summer of Lilies

When I think of summer flowers, my thoughts begin with the common Day Lily.   I think of big patches of them along roadsides.

When I wanted this photo, I discovered that they were becoming difficult to find.  It appears town highway departments largely mow them down.   This patch was where the mower couldn't reach.

Look closely at a Day Lily.  Sure, it's common but lovely.

When I think of lilies, I recall this Stargazer Lily that the squirrels brought to our garden many years ago.  It was surely a matter of theft from a neighbor's plantings.  It disappeared a few years later.  Squirrel again?

My pursuit of beautiful lilies includes the Herb Garden at the Cornell Botanic Gardens in nearby Ithaca, where the garden design includes complementary colors surrounding the subject flowers.

Another lily that I have found in the Herb Garden areas is the flamboyant Turk's Cap.  It's on steroids!

I picked the Turk's Cap to prepare for a shift to a native lily that can inspire me to drive as much as 1-3/4 hours to see an abundant colony.   I have a fascination with wild plants that thrive without intervention, and in spite of whitetail deer predation.  So, here is a group of Canada Lilies on the banks of the Susquehanna River, that I was shown in 2015.

Look at how they sometimes erupt into a ring of flowers atop the slender stalk.

In other places, the Canada Lily can hide in a stand of tall grasses. 

I've even seen one - just one - that was in the process of opening.  I love it.

I'll admit that the Day Lilies, Star Gazers and even the Turk's Caps were simply vehicles to bring you to my passion for the Canada Lily.

They are so lovely, and so very wild, that I treasure them each time I find them.

Paul

Canada Lilies- A Woodland Treat

I have an admiration for flowers that achieve unique beauty without selective human breeding.  So, along with the the truly wild orchids, one other will lead me to awake at 5:30 am. (The time is driven by capturing extremely sharp images when the air is dead still.)

The Canada Lily, Lilium canadense, is in a struggle to survive the overpopulation of Whitetail Deer.  Since the Mundy Wildflower Garden was partly fenced, the few plants inside have begun to show their full potential. Earlier this week I was amazed to find a single lily standing about seven feet tall with eleven blooms.  Plans were made based on a prediction of favorable conditions for Saturday, and I was joined by spouse Pam and good friend David Dunneau. 

This is an amazing plant.  Previously I had only seen single or double blooms that I now characterize as juvenile plants. 

The smaller plants are still  quite beautiful and definitely easier to compose into a photo.

A closer look at the flower shows an inviting target for the pollinator.

While most blooms were very regular in form, I found one plant with twin blooms that had a very seductive form.

I thought when I saw this bloom several days ago that it was in the process of opening and would be fully open this morning, but it retains the earlier form.

An unexpected bonus of the early morning outing was spotted by my friend David.  Two very tiny flies in the mating couplet. They are only about 6 millimeters long (1/4 inch).

Pretty neat to see them in detail.  Again, the calm air helped greatly.

Finished by 9 am, we retired to the Ithaca Bakery for bagels and coffee.  We had earned the treat.

Paul Schmitt