A S IF TO CHEER ME ON DESPITE 7 INCHES of rain that fell the last two weeks, the screaming red martagon lilies are open again, right on time. I just thought I’d remind you in case you’re not the kind of visitor who digs through the archives compulsively (but if you did, you’d see that the similarly screaming red baneberry fruits are colored up now, too). If I had a red rainsuit and boots and perhaps a red umbrella, things would be picture-perfect here.
THE LECTURE that he’s been giving for a number of years is not-so-subtly called “Kill Your Lawn.” Ecological horticulturist Dan Jaffe Wilder knows that starting over and creating an entire native habitat instead of a lawn isn’t for everyone. But Dan just wants to grab our attention and get us to start to make some changes at least in the way we care for the turfgrass we do want in our landscapes. And maybe give up a little square footage of it to some other kind of more diverse planting, too, like the wild strawberries (Fragaria virginiana, inset). Alternative, more eco-focused styles of lawn care, along with some lawn alternatives is what he and I talked about on the podcast. Dan is Director of Applied Ecology at Norcross Wildlife Foundation in Wales, Massachusetts, and its 8,000-acre sanctuary. He’s also co-author with Mark Richardson of the book “Native Plants for New England Gardens.”
(Stream it below, read the illustrated transcript or subscribe free.)
About that discussion on coveting things…
@Balsamfir: Hahaha. Exactly right. First time I saw them I had to have them, too. I got them at Klehm’s Song Sparrow as I recall…have to check if they still have any. Or you could just do a drive-by. :)
Margaret, I have ALWAYS felt that coordination is EVEYTHING, so in your “martagon lily” red ensemble you would even match the trim of your house. The lily is my favorite flower, be it asiatic, oriental, or day. If my home was not called Whimsey Hill, it would be titled Lily Lawn.
I adore martagon lilies – in the Pacific Northwest I used to grow some that were a dusty pink-rose in color.
I recently wrote a post on my own blog about another Turks cap lily, the Humboldt Lily, native of California. You might enjoy the photos.
http://doves2day.blogspot.com/2009/06/humboldt-lilies.html
Welcome, g. My other martagons, a peachy-pink color, came from my friends’ garden in Seattle. Thank you for the pink; the Turk’s caps are lovely indeed. See you soon again I hope.
The martagons always surprise me and there could be no better time than the late June garden. I too love my single actea with its red drumstick fighting it out with the velvety gray foliage of my hieraciums. One can really see, even with its low-to-the-ground stature, why cimicifugas were reclassified to this group of plants.
It’s to darn hot here in N. Florida to even go outside. Let alone enjoy the flowers. It’s been weeks of 95 to 102 degrees. we sure could use some of your rain. My tomato plants are dying of heat stroke. And it’s only June. We don’t get our “hottest” month until August! :>(
what is this splendor? wow.
i love how out of everyone i know, i like to think i’m the “plant master,” but you keep me humble. I bask in your amazingness!
Last I looked, they sold out. So I’ve got to get on an email list and see if I can make the cut next time. But I may have them. I’ve got something mysterious that I planted a few years ago and is just now putting up buds, although its been making babies happily. So I’m waiting to see what I bought and forgot before buying another martagon. Am I the only one who does this?