Glamour Returns to the Garden

My Lilium LA Eyeliners  are flowering again despite my neglectful gardening.  I posted about these Lilies last year when they first flowered.

Instead of buying expensive bulbs from a bulb merchant these were bought from the local  garden centre for a couple of pounds for 1 packet of corms.  The plant have really bulked up and are definitely more floriferous  than last year.  I have to admit that as I said this is despite me.  I fed the plants this time last year when they were flowering, then let the plants die back.  The pots were subsequently put out of the way under a garden bench and forgotten about.
They were even out in heavy prolonged snow and cold we had over winter but come March (yes March) I noticed new shoots had appeared  So much so that I had to pull the pots out from under the bench as they were getting rather leggy due to the lack of light.

One of the two pots of corms has been hit by Lily Beetle but I seem to have managed to keep them from being completely defoliated.  I have sought out the adult beetles and squiged them and then I blasted the disgusting larva with a high pressure hose!!  The affected plants (photo above) has some tatty leaves but generally look very healthy.

The pot full on the right are in a smaller pot than the others and I think this has restricted the growth this year as the plants do look a little  congested so I will make a note in the garden notebook to repot them in the spring.  At the same time I bought another packet of Lily bulbs and I said this time last year that I would show you them and then I forgot.  They have big fat buds at the moment so I will try very hard to remember to post about them soon.

You may be wondering about the name Eyeliner – I think it comes from the very fine burgundy line you can just see running around the petals.  I know that my post last year encouraged my fellow blogger Green Tapestry to get some of these Lilys so I am hoping she will be showing us them soon.