Tuesday, May 18, 2010

More Scented Garden

After the lilacs are through blooming, the Oriental lilies will take over providing delightful scent in my garden.  One of the biggest confusions I encounter is the difference between Asiatic and Oriental lilies. You can throw daylilies into the mix to really mystify folks.  Daylilies (which I farm), are not even a member of the family "lilium" and we'll leave them out today. 

 Oriental vs Asiatic

While there are many ways to tell the difference, the simplest is the direction of the blooms.  Asiatic lilies tend to have an upward facing bloom.  Oriental lilies, which have the heavily scented blooms, face sideways or slightly down.

Asiatic Lilies




Oriental Lilies




Everyone's favorite Stargazer.  This one is from my garden last year.  

"Stargazer"


For scented flowers the Oriental is the one you want to add to your garden...


9 comments:

Susan said...

Cheeze, Adrienne....I thought the stargazer was the most incredibly fragrant flower in the world! But the Oriental is MORE fragrant? Hmmmmm. Going to look for that one, too. Thanks so much for the "scent"sational tips! Sincerely, Susan

Susan said...

p.s. Adrienne, I meant to tell you to check out C.Hope's (on my sidebar) blog. She told about a gardening publication that is looking for stories. Check it out. Sincerely, Susan

Sandi@ Rose Chintz Cottage said...

Hi Adrienne,
Your lilies are just gorgeous! I can almost smell them through the computer! It must be splendid to be surrounded by these gorgeous blooms. Thanks for sharing and have a lovely day.

Blessings,
Sandi

Adrienne said...

Susan - Stargazer is an Oriental Lily so you were right. Stargazer is just its name...

Checked out C'Hopes. Thanks for the tip...

Adrienne said...

Sandi - thanks for visiting. I love your blog (although I don't always comment)...

Glenda/MidSouth said...

They are all beautiful. I have been in and out of lowe's and HD a lot lately and keep forgetting to go look for a potted one.
Hope you are having a great week.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Adrienne -- I must tell you that those white oriental lilies are luscious. They are so beautiful! I find it difficult to find these types of lillies -- all I seem to come up with are the "day" lilliesi -- full-proof and yellow. I have tons of them around and like them for what they are worth, but how I would love those white beauties. I think I would plant an entire garden around them. Beautiful

MightyMom said...

I have literally zillions of oriental lily buds just about to burst! my lillies really outdid themselves this year. I need to cut backthe irises so they can have some space!

MightyMom said...

say, when will my daylillies bloom? there's no bloomstalks yet on either bunch.