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A flower fantasy in summer garden

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JUL 10, 2019

The amazing lily tree blooms each summer, each time a little taller. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

Gigantic lily tree lives up to its mail order billing

It takes an incredible beauty to upstage Marilyn Monroe. But right now, that’s what’s happening in my front yard.

“Marilyn” is a hybrid tea that once won Queen of Show at the Sacramento Rose Show. She looks her best in spring and fall.

The lily tree reaches the roof line at 8 feet.

Towering over that large, lush rose bush right now is a midsummer spectacular: A lily tree.

It’s no tree but a lily with stems as thick as my arm and loaded with fragrant trumpets that dangle over my head. Each trumpet is 6 inches long (at least) and as big across. Standing 8 feet tall, the lily tree is a true scene stealer.

This is one of those rare plants that lived up to its mail order billing. Now in its second decade, this amazing lily sprouts reliably every May. It then grows and grows and grows, each year seemingly a little taller. By July Fourth, it reaches the roof line.

Many tulips ago, this lily tree was purchased as a bare bulb from Breck’s , the Dutch mail order giant. Founded in 1818, Breck’s is now celebrating its 201st year in the bulb business.

I admit I bought the lily tree on impulse. I couldn’t resist this description:

“A floral fantasy come true! … Our magical Lily Trees are the breathtaking result from years of selective breeding. They offer you all the advantages of the finest hybrid lilies — massive, upward-facing trumpets of vivid color, delicate fragrance and exceptional reliability. Every plant bears four to five flowers the very first year and 20 to 30 after three years!

“All this on incredibly sturdy stems that reach up 3 to 4 feet the first year, 5 to 6 feet the next year and upwards to 6 to 8 feet in three years!”

I had to see that!

Also marketed as Orienpet lilies, lily trees are a cross between oriental and trumpet varieties. I picked a three-bulb special of unnamed varieties and planted them among the roses and perennials. Two lily trees grew for several seasons before disappearing, crowded out by other plants.

But this one giant has become more eye-popping every year. It’s never been dug up, and rarely fed. It just wakes up in late spring to put on its show. The blooms start pale yellow and fade to creamy white as they open. (It’s similar to Breck’s current Pretty Woman variety.) In my flower bed, it’s my summer star.

Some like it hot.

The trumpet flowers are 6 inches long and as big across.

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Keywords:

Sacramento lily tree Marilyn Monroe rose bulbs. summer bulbs lily Pretty Woman July Breck's

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Food in My Back Yard Series

May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can

May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success

April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?

April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)

April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers

April 8: When to plant summer vegetables

April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths

March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth

March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds

March 4: Potatoes from the garden

Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space

Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants

Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting

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Garden Checklist for week of May 11

Make the most of the lower temperatures early in the week. We’ll be back in the 80s by Thursday.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)

* Plant dahlia tubers.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Add mulch to the garden to maintain moisture. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch-to-1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.

* Remember to weed! Pull those nasties before they set seed.

* Water early in the day and keep seedlings evenly moist.

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