Trumpet Lilies

For 2003 we thought we would like to try fragrant lilies other than the Oriental Hybrids. We came across a package at Costco that had 2 different colours of 'trumpet' lilies: 'Lorina', a white one, and 'Pink Perfection'. There is no real way I can think of through comparison of pictures to prove or disprove that the white one is 'Lorina', but a search for 'Pink Perfection' on various sites shows a much lighter bloom for that variety than what we see in our yard and I'm inclined to think that what we actually have is called 'Midnight'. Take quick peek at Lilynook's website and see if you don't agree.

They were planted in the north side yard, in front of the newly planted Smaragd cedars, rather close to the front of the planter and virtually touching the dog barrier as they started to grow.

The first white one opened July 7th, the pink followed July 10th 2003. Interesting to note that in 2004 the pink is ahead of the white by about 2 weeks. 'Midnight' is in full bloom whereas 'Lorina' is still firmly budded on July 2nd, 2004.

As an interesting side note, we planted 3 of the bulbs in a planter pot for our friend Joyce, who lives in an apartment on the groundfloor and has a sizeable patio begging for some colour and fragrance, and hers flowered almost 2 weeks earlier than ours did.

We had noticed a rodent, likely a rat, in the yard a couple of weeks prior and we were horrified to discover that this rodent has an appetite for lily flowers, in particular the pink one. Just take a look at how this critter has ravaged the sole pink flower we have.

The little damage just to the left of the anthers is caused by a slug early on in the bud's development, it's nothing like what the rodent did, just look below and see how much petal has disappeared.

You may recall comments being made elsewhere on this site with respect to the colours on labels and what we actually seem to get. This is another example of that. The label picture, as well as other illustrations we have seen of 'Pink Perfection' all show a MUCH lighter shade of pink than we have in the pictures here. No doubt we have a pink trumpet lily, but I'm afraid we have yet another example of incorrect labeling.

This particular pink variety is rather vigorous, a number of bulbs have more than one stem in 2004 and most show greater height than in 2003 as well, in addition to more flowers per stem.

You ask how we're so sure it's a rodent? Just look at the chew marks and the tooth perforations:)

We also suspect that rodents have managed to get their teeth on some of our lily bulbs over the winter. Late winter, early spring we saw evidence of bulbs having been dug up and disappear by the next day.