Lily Propagation

Hello there,

I will be back here in a day or 2 with a video on information on lily propagation.
I will do a hands on video of how to scale lily bulbs.

I will cover a few different ways to get the bulbs scales going and show you some of the materials I use.
I will go over using bags, containers, perlite, peat moss, paper towel, rooting hormones, and any other little tricks I can think of to help you get more out of your lilies.

Hope you stop in and check things out.

Cheers for now,
Kevin

P.S. once i have that video up and going I will try and do up a quick video on starting lily seeds as well.

Martagon Seedling

This is one of my martagon seedlings that I have been waiting a good 4 years to see bloom.

This martagon should have bloomed a few years ago, but because of late frost, snow, hail and just a grumpy mother nature, it took some time.

I did not get a lot of seed from this cross and this is about the only that made it and bloomed.

The cross is L. martagon var. dalmaticum X L. Martagon X "Bornholm"

A very dark mother plant (pod plant) crossed with a very strong growing White.

I will see in the next few years how well it grows and multiplies before giving it a name and sending it out.

Hope this keeps you going with trying out your own crosses.

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!

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.

Heritage Market

So today the Stony Plain Heritage Farmers Market kicks off for the season.
It runs today from 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm and tomorrow from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.

All are welcome to wander through and take a look at all the stuff. The market was renamed and opened up to 2 days. With the opening Jim Hole of Hole's Greenhouses will be there. A special appearance of Bailey the Buffalo Jr. will also be had. Come get your photo taken with a bison.

It is at the fair grounds in Stony Plain right by the Pioneer Museum. It should be a good time.
I will be there to sell lots of potted lilies, I have just over 2500 lilies potted up to sell this year.

Hope you can make it out.

Out In the Garden

I was working away today in the garden and thought A photo of how the martagon lilies are doing would be good.

This is a smaller patch of martagon Burnt Orange coming up. The tallest is about six inches high. The garden is starting to look really good so far. The weeds are not coming on to fast and the clean up from last year is close to being done.

Lots of old stems and peony tops to be cleaned up yet but we are over half done. The asiatic lilies are just starting to show life in the odd spot in the garden. Now a bit of steady rain and some warm weather should really get things growing.

Deer In the Lilies

So this evening I had a visit from some unwanted friends. Yes I am talking about deer. They look nice and are quiet, but the damage they do and can do is not a very good trade off. There were 5 white tail deer tonight wandering around and nibbling at the very young fresh shoots starting to push out of the soil. For the most part they do not seem to like the taste of martagon lilies. What they do is bite off the growing tip (this is where most of the leaves and flower buds are hiding) and spit them out.

I am now on a hunt for effective deer repellent. I am not looking to hurt the deer, but chase them away.

In the last few fall seasons they have badly damaged and killed off many young trees. I lost a very nice 8 foot lodge pole pine that had finally taken hold and started to put on some good growth. They also seemed to like a Siberian Larch, mountain ash, a very small Burr Oak and one fruit tree a Evan's Cherry.

One jokes with what they have eaten here in my garden, how would they taste.

Spring is near

Well the last week or so we have been starting to get ready for spring. Cleaning up the greenhouse, checking on seedlings, getting seeds ready and into place to plant soon. The first shipment of new lily bulbs arrived on Friday February 27Th, and they look very clean and ready to start growing. They will have to sit about 2 more weeks though, the greenhouse will need to warm up and potting soil needs to thaw a bit. Once I have my main computer back from being repaired I will be trying to put together a slide show of the martagon lilies that are in the catalogue for this season, as well as a slide show of the asiatic lilies.
I will also be working on a short wright up of one of the trials I am working on with lilies from leaf cuttings. I did a first time try last season a bit late in the year to get good results and will be trying this again earlier in the season, with hopefully more success. I will also start a online photo gallery of how it is proceeding as well as a following a bunch of martagon lily scales that are now in the cold rest period.

Hope all are having a good winter.