Lilium Tigrinum Splendens, how showy is this plant. Last Summer was the second year that Tigrinum Splendens graced the main border of the back garden.

In its first year it performed well, last year it was spectacular. I am finally over my assumption that Lilies deteriorate after the first year.

I planted two groups of five, the sturdy black stems  three feet in height with bulblets forming along the length of them  carry at least ten flowers.  The umbels of buds on this Turks-cap Lily before reaching flowering stage resemble candelabras.  Although I am not always so very keen on orange flowers, I found this easy to overcome when faced with such perfection.  The recurved petals of the orange flowers are conspicuously dotted black.

The Turks cap Lilies have a preference for free draining soil which is on the acidic side.  Plant them at least six inches deep in Autumn or early Spring with sand or grit at the base, this helps with the drainage which is essential with all Lilies.

This Turks cap Lily is probably more likely to naturalise in the garden than any other form available, I think it is the bees knees.

Hardiness – Fully hardy

Height – 90cm – 3ft

Position – Sun/part shade

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Another Turks cap Lily flowering in the garden in mid August is Sweet Surrender.

The creamy white flowers have just a hint of lemon and speckled maroon. Another showy Lily that will naturalise and look great in your garden. Is it an Asiatic or turks cap, well some refer to it as Asiatic and others diplomatically refer to it as having the Turks cap style. Whatever it looks great, last year was the first Summer which we had this one in the back garden, we liked it so much we had more bulbs of it delivered in the Autumn.  Lets see how they do this year.

Hardiness – Fully hardy

Height – 90/100cm

Position – Full sun/partial shade

        

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Yet another Tiger or Turks cap Lily, (Hiawatha) this deep red beauty with black spots is more often referred to as an Asiatic in the UK.  However in America, and I think once again because of its appearance you will more likely see it marketed as a Tiger or Turks cap Lily.

This is another one which first flowered in our garden in the Summer of last year.  She was planted in the late part of the Winter and flowered strongly in quite a shady position, first opening flowers in late July lasting for about four weeks.  Hiawatha is said to be a strong grower and very hardy, I will be on the look out to see how it performs this year.

Height – 4ft

Hardiness – Fully Hardy

Position – Full sun/shade

It is so very easy to get the planting wrong with Lilies, please check this company               

    

Although the sunlight is not looking so watery, Winter is not yet over. Looking out of the kitchen window there seems to be no sign of flowers in the garden, but hey, what is this we see on closer inspection.

The Hellebore Party Dress Pink planted in Autumn and now flowering. I don’t see any reason for this beauty to hide her face  Pictured on the 2nd of February.

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Check out Hellebore Yellow lady on the left, talk about ugly Betty. Pictured on February 7th, perhaps the flowers to follow will show her in a different light.   The Snowdrop Nivalis just starting to show a little colour.

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Hamamelis Arnolds Promise is lighting up this spot in the woodland. We still haven’t seen any snow this year and the lowest night time temperature has not fallen below -5c/23f. Last year on a couple of occasions the temp fell to -15/5f and we had loads of snow.

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Although there may not be so very much flowering in the garden, there are some plants which look just as good now as they do in the Summer.  The Carex Oshimensis evergold is one such plant.

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The HT Rose  Laura Anne  on the left is still hanging on to quite a few flowers on naked stems.  I like the Skimmia Japonica  at this time of year when the flower buds can look better than the blooms do when fully opened.

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The white blooms of this late Winter/ early Spring flowering Erica is a welcome sight.

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The Harts tongue Fern on the right gets cut back in early Spring when I see the new fronds appear.  The one on the left has the same habit, perhaps a little taller, I don’t know the name of this one.

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Nearly missed out on this beauty in the woodland.  Mahonia Japonica blooming a couple of weeks earlier in our garden.

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I am keen to plant more of the Celmisia Spectabilis, white daisy flowers in June and the silvery green foliage looks good all year round.  Quite a number of these Pansy’s in the borders, they have had flowers all Winter and come Spring they will really come alive.

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The Spring garden would not be the same without these annual Polyanthus which have also had flowers over the past two months.

If you happen to leave a comment I will be sure to visit your site and do the same 

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