End of the season

Well we are nearing the end of another season. This year has been full of ups and downs. The weather this year was less then perfect. Late frosts, hail, next to no rain for months at a time. The lilies stood through it all but took a beating and are showing the signs of stress. Many asiatic lilies did not size up but instead multiplied to try and save themselves. Next year will hopefully be a better year.

Our plans of doing a bunch of breeding in the lilies never got a chance. There were a total of 8 martagon lily stems that had flowers. Most of those were distorted and did not have all the parts to do some pollen dabbing. Out of the asiatic lily patch we did try a few crosses and got a total of 1 seed pod. This seed pod is now in doors drying off for the last bit in hopes of a few good seeds.

Over the next few months we will be working on a new catalogue for next year. Also planning will be done on a possible new shade house for a seedling and propagation area. There are also a few other ideas in the works for the next year. Possibly a seed and propagation booklet that has been in the works for a while, as well as a Cd of martagon lily photos of our collection.

I hope you all have had a good growing year this year and that the winter is no too long for you. I look forward to finding afew new lilies and playing around with a few new seeds.

Here is to next spring may the weather be just the right mix of warm rains at the end a hot sunny day in the garden.