A Summer of Lilies

Philippine Lily Buds

Regal Lily

First the Regal lilies (Lilium regale) in late May. Then the loooong wait for the Philippine lilies (Lilium philippinense). Their buds kept getting bigger and bigger - up to eight inches long- but they just wouldn't open. Until this week.

The Philippine lily is also fragrant, a mild lily-of-the-valleyish sweetness, quite unlike the powerful spiciness of the Regals. To smell it, you have to stick your nose way up into the bloom, all the while on the lookout for bees. Then you have to brush the yellow pollen off your nose. Just imagine how the bees must feel, with all that sticky stuff clinging to their furry, little legs.

Philippine Lily

Thinnings

If you want big carrots, you have to thin them. 

That is, you have to remove their neighbors, so those lucky (for now) carrots that remain have space to grow. And although the thinning job is a bit painful ("But they're growing just fine! Can you really just root out healthy plants?"), the reward is that you get to enjoy a fine meal of newly-picked baby carrots.