The Sweet Scented Crinum Lilies

  Years and years ago, one of my favorite aunts gave me a whole bunch of lily bulbs.  The lilies were all of the crinum lily family but were different colors.  One she called a "Ruby Lily" multiplies so prolifically that I have been able to share with anyone who has ever wanted a start.  It is the prettiest of deep ruby-pinks and has a delightful scent that lets you know well in advance that you are about to come upon a clump in bloom.  Most of these, I have planted on the south side of the house and see daily as I walk to the pier.  I have to smile with each encounter simply because of memories.

  Another of the crinum lillies is the palest of pale pinks.  If memory serves me right, she called these "Peppermint Lilies".   Since the lily has lost its red streaks, it no longer resembles a peppermint candy but the name sticks.  Perhaps mine are a throwback to some previous type lily.  This clump is near the little Frog Pond and I often miss the blooms unless the wind is just right. These, too, have an intoxicating aroma!  If I happen to step on the back porch and there is a slight west wing, the scent lets me know that I need to venture to that part of the yard.  These have a slightly different scent than the Rubies but it is just as sweet.

  Both of these lilies never fail to fill the yard with their blooms during the summer months.  When not in bloom the large clumps of bright green, strappy leaves are quite imposing, in their own right.  Crinum lilies can often be found at abandoned homesites from as far back as the 1800s.  The lilies were a must-have item in gardens of the well-to-do back in the day.  The clumps of lilies could be as large as thirty feet across or they could line the winding lanes to the main house.  Landscaping was often centered around the lilies as they were easy to grow and maintain.  Then, the lilies became more mainstream and most gardens had (much smaller) clumps.   After having their time of glory, the interest faded until, now, the lilies are almost hard to find and the bulbs are often expensive.  I am fortunate enough to have many.  The hardy bulbs have stood through icy winters, scorching summers, hurricanes and droughts.  I do hope the bulbs just keep multiplying!

The Torch Has Been Passed...

  I have a personal vendetta against the Eastern Lubber Grasshopper.  I come by it naturally.  Granddaddy carried on a feud with these guys for years.  He would try to kill as many as he could each spring and then all summer long.  It did no good.  No matter how many you kill, there are just as many (or more) the next spring.  Like him, I will go out of my way to stomp on one and I am one of those "live and let live" sort of folks...most of the time. With these grasshoppers, it is more of a battle of survival.  If I wish to have any sort of garden, I have to be overzealous in dealing with the lubbers.  If left, the critters can strip a garden of every leaf in a matter of days.  Gardening would be a bleak endeavor. 

  Back on the farm, the grasshoppers were unheard of.  We had no inkling such a critter existed.  While we battled things like tomato worms and aphids, grasshoppers of any kind were just sort of ignored.  Then came Hurricane Camille back in 1969.  It was an intense hurricane like none other before.  The Coast was nigh on decimated.  It took so much away but also brought an everlasting plague.  The Eastern Lubber Grasshopper washed in on the tidal surge and never left.

  This afternoon, I noticed two of the critters in different stages of their morphs.   One was still in its juvenile black stage while one was a full adult.  These, both, would have met their demise had I been able to reach them.  They were smart to stay out in the marsh.  As I came back up the board path to admire the ruby lilies that were gently swaying in the breeze, my heart sank as I spied several other grasshoppers happily munching the lily stalks.  Needless to say, I value my lilies far more than some bug.  Those five are no more.  Granddaddy would be proud to know that I am carrying on his battle! The torch has been passed and the lilies are safe for at least one more day.

The Eternal Flower

  Back years ago,  Aunt Marie gave me some lily bulbs.  Those things were huge!  She called them "Ruby Lilies" so the name stuck with me. She also gave some that she dubbed "Peppermint Lilies". Like the others, I still call those by her descriptive name even though, I have found that they are both Crinum Lilies.  The Ruby Lilies are the loveliest shade of ruby pink while the Peppermint Lilies are white and pink striped.  Both lilies are highly scented!  When blooming, the entire yard can be filled with delightfully sweet aroma.  This I like!  Highly scented flowers can help mask the not so delightful scent of low tide on the mudflats.

  Besides being highly scented and quite lovely, the lilies are perhaps the easiest garden flowers to grow.  Once established, the Crinum Lilies are nigh on impossible to kill so even the laziest of gardeners can have a lush bed of loveliness!  It is not uncommon to find abandoned homesteads from long ago that still have huge beds of the lilies in bloom.  Those lilies usually have bulbs that are near basketball size unlike the smaller two to three inch bulbs that are sold in stores.  Those "antique" bulbs can weigh up to twenty pounds each!  Some folks claim that the Crinum Lilies are eternal.  They never die no matter how badly you treat them.  Forget to water them, never give them fertilizer, run over them with your lawnmower, spray with herbicide...the lilies live. Mine withstood the ravages of hurricanes, were doused with the salty flood waters, lay hidden under ten feet of debris and took the mistreatment of our tractors as we cleaned the mess.  Once uncovered, the lilies burst forth with masses of leaves and then bloomed!  

 Since the lilies have so many good attributes, you would think that more gardeners would add them to the landscape.  Like all good things, there is usually a downside...a dark cloud that hovers just overhead.  With the Crinum lilies, I have only found one.  NEVER plant them where you do not want them.  Once well established, it is nigh on impossible to move them.  If you do wish to ever take out the entire clump of lilies, you better utilize a large tractor.  Otherwise, you will work yourself into a frenzy trying to dislodge the huge bulbs.  No wonder I love these things!  I better. I sure do not plan on moving them!

As Big as My Head!

  My cleaning of the yard is still a work in progress.  I have moved on to the Boysenberry vines.  They were in dire need of dead wooding and weeding.  The fences that hold them were also in need of repair as one was starting to sag in the middle from the weight of the vines and one of the others just flat out needed to be replaced.  This is not one of my favorite jobs but someone has to do it and being as there was no one else handy, the job fell to me.  Not being one to work well with gloves on my hands, I stupidly tackled the vines barehanded.  The thorns ripped at my skin and supplied me with lots of splinters.  Needless to say, by mid morning, I was quite sore and bloody!  On the plus side, though, I had a mountain of briers waiting to be fed to the burner.  For the past few days, that outdoor burner has been in constant use and from the looks of the place, another week or so will find it ever smoldering.  

  Afternoon found me wanting a well-deserved break from the thorns.  I turned my attention to weeding under the Satsuma trees.  These appear to be surviving even with the lack of leaves.  The recent cold weather did a job on the citrus trees but perhaps they will sprout new leaves with the warming weather. Under one of the trees there sits a number of Ruby Lilies and Peppermint Lilies.  These were given to me by my Aunt Marie when we first moved to the Bayou.  I have babied them along for years and the clumps of bulbs have grown large.  The original bulbs are sitting in the middle of dozens of smaller bulbs.  The smaller ones being about the size of my fist.  As I pulled away leaves, weeds and vines, I was amazed at the size of the original bulbs!  Those things were the size of my head!  Ok, so that was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the massive bulb!  

  At one point, Michael strolled past my work space.  He was toting lumber to the backyard where he busies himself with building of the greenhouse.  I showed him the bulbs and made the remark about their size.  He looked at me with his whimsical smile.  I knew some retort was coming about the size of my head.  I cringed as I thought of all of the sly remarks he could make.  I do set myself up for these things ever so much! Instead of some cutting remark, he merely asked if I was going to crochet hats for the bulbs for next winter's cold.  Whew!  That was not so bad!  In fact.....in fact, perhaps that was not such a bad idea!  Bulb Hats!  Warm Bulb Hats that would keep the bulbs from freezing!  Hmmm...ponder, ponder...Bulb Hats!

Waning Summer

There is a certain peace in Autumn.  Summer is dying and winter is yet to be born but Autumn lingers just long enough to be a perfectly welcome guest.  The days still bring the heat of summer but then at night, a cooling that is reminiscent of winter drops in to give us hints of what is to come.  Yep, Autumn is a most welcome guest here on the Bayou.  I sat out in the late evening and listened to the flying squirrels as they gnawed on hickory nuts and to the Great Horned Owl as it said goodbye to the setting sun.  Ms. Ez, the old dog laid on the ground next to my chair while Ms. Put, the cat, stalked what I assume was a vole.  She is quite the huntress and can spot a mouse across the yard or hear a vole running through the underground tunnel.  Both the dog and cat were content and I..I found this to be quite the perfect ending to the day.

The weather has been unduly dry as of late.  The garden has seen better days.  The vegetables and herbs linger only with daily waterings. Soon those will be gone as well and the whole place can be cleared and readied for the winter crops.  Most of the zinnias have withered and the Ageratums never stood a chance. One lone Ruby Lily struggled to keep its bloom from wilting.  I watched as the setting sun shot beams of gold through the lily.  It lit up like some lovely stained glass lamp!  Oh, how beautiful!  In the bright light of day, the lily looked almost pathetic but now it had a most gorgeous radiance about it!

I thought about how that lily reminded me of the waning summer. The season, like the flower is clinging to life with all its might.  Soon both will surrender to a chill in the air.  Months of cool, grey days will pass before either will be seen again.  Still, I welcome Autumn..even with the temporary passing of the lily.

Cut Flowers?

Meandering the garden path today, I came across the lovely Ruby Lilies.  These and the Peppermint Lilies will bloom for a good bit of the summertime before finally settling into their dormant stage.  It is then that the bulbs will continue their growth.  Already these bulbs are about eight inches in diameter.  They put out leaves that can reach three feet in length and then those lovely, lovely blooms!  Not only are the flowers quite showy but they smell divine!  Both the Ruby and Peppermint Lilies are types of Crinum Lilies and do so well in most gardens.

Ruby Lilies are in bloom!

Two blooms that had been cut from the stalk by some nasty critter!

I was breathing in the sweet scent when I noticed a few of the blooms had been cut from the stalk!  My first thought was that some large critter had run through the garden and knocked the flowers around until they broke.  My poor lilies!  Then I spied the culprit!  She was large but not nearly as large as what I imagined.  Hiding under one of the leaves, an Eastern Lubber Grasshopper was escaping the hot afternoon sun.  Aha!  So, you have decided to munch my lilies, have you?  Not for long!  After a quick photo session, the grasshopper met its demise!

The Eastern Lubber Grasshopper that was eating my lilies!

Closeup of the hungry critter that was damaging my flowers!

Before I left the lily garden, I found and killed twenty three more of the grasshoppers.  Some were still in their black and red stage (juvenile) and had not yet molted to their adult colors.  The first one I found had already molted and had developed her wings.  Not that these wings are used for flying but more as a method of communication. She will flash her wings and make a funny "clicking" noise to attract a mate.  Then every male grasshopper in the yard will come running!  Afterwards, her egg cases will be deposited in the ground where they will stay until next spring.  Once mature enough, the little ones will crawl to the surface and cluster together as they gather warmth from the early, springtime sun.  Hatched red, they will soon turn jet black.  Then...the Grasshopper Dance will begin in earnest.  The ones today were escapees from the fate met by their many, many siblings.  Still, there are enough around to spawn about a zillion more that will eat my yard bare of any green leaf!

Raindrops and happy thoughts

"Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet."~Roger Miller~

I love this quote! It says a lot about living life to the fullest and finding happiness in the smallest of things. Maybe we should all take walks in the rain. Personally, I love it when the rain comes. I love the way it sounds on my rooftop, the way it makes rivulets on the window panes, the way it makes the garden smell.

After another shower cleansed the Earth today, I ventured outside. I could feel that there was still a slight mist falling as I followed the footpath through the garden. The ground was just wet enough to muffle my footsteps so that I did not disturb the Bluebirds that were trying to get a last minute meal for their babies. I watched them as they bobbed in and out of the tomato plants. What great friends to have, they do a marvelous job keeping my garden bug-free! I really must get started building more birdhouses!

Heading out of the vegetable garden, I made my way to inspect the lilies. In and among the Ruby Lilies, there is a lone Peppermint Lily that I wanted to photograph. This particular lily is a prize! It is the only Peppermint Lily in the entire garden. Not by choice, simply by accident. So when it blooms, it is special to me. There it was.. in all its glory..the raindrops still clinging to it like crystals. Awesome! The aroma in this garden was wonderful! The lilies themselves have a delightful scent, but it was the Four O'Clocks that were filling the air with the sweet, sweet smell. I made a mental note to plant more flowers by scent and not just color.

Following the path a bit further, I realized that I had walked right up on a rabbit that had been munching in the herb garden. My herbs have been struggling this year and now I know why! Mr Bunny..you need to eat something else, not my basil!! I am certainly glad that the seeds I planted today are bedded in the old wheelbarrow, maybe they won't be rabbit food.

The little things..the little things like this that can bring a bit of joy in life. Yes, we all need to take walks in the rain, or at least soon after. We all need to appreciate what is right in front of us, things that we sometimes are just too busy to see. I love my garden..my peaceful, happy garden!