Lilies From Seed Book

As you may know I have put a booklet out on starting lilies from seed.
This little book I have done is a simple basic guide to starting lilies from seed. It covers all the basic information you need to get started. It also goes over the different types of lilies, lily seed habits, storage of seeds, and seed collection.

All great information you can use to get your won lily garden full of treasures.

It is up on www.smashwords.com

It has also now popped up in the book store in iTunes. Follow the link here if you would like a copy https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/beginners-guide-to-growing/id590562173?mt=11

There has been a price adjustment as well. It might take a few days for iTunes to catch up, but if you head to smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/266620 you can get your own copy for $5.99 you can also down load a free preview.

There are many different formats to choose from. So you should be able to down load for your iPod, Kindle, Kobo or Sony reader with out a problem.

If you have a copy of the sample let me know.
Drop me a line or leave a review either here or at smashwords.

I would love to know what you think.

I am also in the process of working on a second book of lilies to go along with this one.
I'll keep you updated as this one rolls along.

Happy Gardening!

Lilies From Seed

So of the last while I have been slowly working on putting a guide together on growing lilies from seed.
All the little tips and hints I can think of that I usually use around here, and some of the things I learnt over 12 years of growing lilies for mail order, wholesale, some cut flowers and as a finished product at the local Farmers Market.
I am working with and online company called Smashwords. They have all the tools and connections to help send my little booklet out into the world.

Here is what the book cover looks like:

 

 

 

Soon you should be able to find a copy for the iPhone, iPad, Kindle, Kobo and Sony Reader in each of their online stores. If you can't wait that long you can get a copy now for all of those plus for your home computer or mac book through Smashwords by following this link http://smashwords.com/books/view/266620

You can even get the free preview there now and get a sample to read for FREE!

Some Thing Coming

It has been a long while since I last popped in here and had a chance to do much writing.
For that I am sorry.

I do have something exciting coming in the next couple of weeks.

I have been putting ideas and information together and stacking things up for a while.
For the new year I plan on putting out an eBook through amazon for the Kindle.
From there I plan on putting together a bunch of other guides and mini books on a few other gardening topics. I have been asked a few times over the last couple of weeks about why I don't do a book and start sharing it. Funny thing is I have had it in the back of my mind and in the planning stages for a while.

I am going to Kick things off with a basic guide for beginners about growing Lilies From seeds.

I hope to make it useful to many.

For now I shall head off and try to hurry things along.

Happy Gardening to all!

Martagon Lily Seedling

This little martagon lily took 8 years to bloom form seed. Last year It was up in the spring and showing great promise, but wild life happened. A deer came through early one morning when it was up about 2 inches out of the ground and bit it off just above the ground. I was looking forward to it blooming. This year it started again, but it was a bigger tip poking up out of the ground. I quickly placed a tomato cage around it with a few shiny deer and bird repellent tape. It shot up nicely reaching about three and a half feet in height. The flower buds un-furled and grew turning some what white in colour. I thought for sure the flowers would be light in colour, but just before opening they became a very deep dark red almost black colour. The pollen sacks were a very bright yellow before they opened to this rusty orange colour. The center is a lighter red with hints of white near the edges and a small green yellow nectary. The stems are of a dark colour, with a deep rich green foliage in nice whorls evenly spaced on the stem.

Now with traditional methods of propagation to increase the amount of this lily will take another three to four years before there are enough to get a good idea how this one will grow in the garden. These methods include scaling and natural division. Natural division is a lot slower and will only see about 2 to as many as 5 bulbs come along in the next three or four years. With scaling it may take about four years to get about 40 to 50 bulbs that may bloom for the first time. Usually with smaller bulbs you will only get between 1 and 5 flowers. This stem had about 30 blooms this year.

Many people wonder why Martagon lilies are expensive. It all comes down to the time put into growing the seed, then selecting a healthy vigorous plant, growing in on and multiplying the stock. Often from the first seed planted to large quantities to share with many people the process can be on average 15 years. Where as with Asiatic lilies one can start seeds and see a first flower in 2 to 3 years. Then if the vigour is there one could start to share in 2 to 3 years after that. This makes the time invested a lot shorter.

Both can be very enjoyable and exciting if one has the patience to wait for that first bloom. I hope this give you an idea about how new martagon lilies come about.

Fall Bulbs

Well it is that time of year again. Digging, washing and bagging up lily bulbs has started. This part of the season is always interesting. It gives me a chance to see how the bulbs grew and sized up over the last summer.

This past season was very good for rain fall and this should help the lilies for next year. last year was very dry and it did not help the plants put on good growth for the fall. They went into last winter a bit too dry. This was evident in the height of the plants and the lack of blooms.

But as you can see in the photo, the first few bulbs drying off after washing, there is good growth to each bulb over last year. These are bulbs of a martagon hybrid just before they get bagged up. Next step is into the cooler till I have at hand a large mix of bulbs. Then they start getting boxed up and sent off to their new homes.