Sod Lily House

Our fascination with lilies has been tempered with failure after failure.  Despite catalog descriptions of plants hardy to zone 3, most of our newly purchased bulbs would die.  The problem was not mid winter sub zero temperatures but spring frosts.  Early frost would blacken newly emerged green shoots while late frost would kill the flower buds.  Covering the plants when frost threatened was possible only if the cover would fit between other plants.  Otherwise the choice was to protect the lilies while smashing their neighbors.  Then the issue was the sheer number of required covering cans.  There had to be a better way.

This is version two of a system to protect the lilies.  Three gallon plastic pots were purchased to hold single transplanted lily bulbs.  Buried up to their rims, these pots will winter over in a protected spot.  Shaded from low winter sun, this area should be late in building spring soil warmth.  That should delay emergence of the lilies for a few days.  If the snow cover is scant, we can shovel extra snow on top of the lilies.  When spring does come, the entire lily bed can be covered with a tarp if frost threatens. As a last line of defense, the pots can be pulled from the ground and carried to the basement.

We had a first version of this system last year.  The new sod walls on three sides are intended to make it easier to place the tarp.  These walls need to be higher in order to cover the taller lilies in late May but that can wait until spring.  For now we must get ready to plant the garlic by week's end.  Then we can finish  bedding the lilies down for the winter.

A Few More Flowers and So Many Seeds

There are still a few more flowers blooming in the garden. This is one of the last golden glows shining in the sunlight. Opportunities for nectar and pollen are getting to be few and far between.  A late migrating Monarch butterfly was seen trying to feed on a fallen brown leaf yesterday.

This Sedum sieboldi that is planted on the top of Ed's stone wall is just beginning to bloom. It has always been a late bloomer here.

Another division of the same plant which grows in the garden instead of on top of the wall has not yet begun to open. If these beautiful sunny fall days continue it will get its chance to bloom too.

There is by no means a shortage of seeds in the garden. Some of them are welcome. They will provide food for the birds and other wildlife over the coming winter and plants I love will return again. Some of them are weeds always destined for removal. These seeds are from Grandpa Ott morning glories.    Last year the plants purchased from Select Seeds were gorgeous.  Reported to be the flower that started the Seed Saver Exchange I actually saved seed for Ed to plant.  This spring Ed started some of these seeds in the basement.  I even gave some of these heirloom seeds to friends. It has been my experience that morning glory seeds here are annual. That is when the cold comes the plants and the seeds are dead a  door nail. I was not pleased this spring when hundreds  thousands of morning glory plants popped up all around the area where the Grandpa Otts were planted. They climbed and wound around any plant nearby like nasty little pythons choking the life out of its victim.   I have been pulling them all summer. I'm pulling more now. I'm trying to gather  and get rid of all the seeds I can find, but I know I have not seen the last of Grandpa Ott. To my friends who received these seeds from me as a gift I have to say, " Sorry, I had no idea! "