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dondeldux

~~~ Sweet Lilian & Lima~~~

Hi Everyone,

Just a couple of new things blooming for me now. This is my first Sweet Lilian and I just love her. She has 6 flowers on her first scape!!

And Lima, this year's Lima has more green in it than last year's which I lost to rot.

Donna

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Comments (23)

  • jodik_gw
    11 years ago

    Nice! I've always liked Sweet Lilian! Thanks for sharing! They're beautiful!

  • dondeldux z6b South Shore Massachusetts
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks Jodi,
    I especially love her in the evening in low light..the darker colors in the throat draw your eyes in and the contrast between the creamy white tips and the green stripes in the middle are really lovely. I was so happy that this one didn't turn out to be a mislabel and was even better than I expected!!

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  • haxuan
    11 years ago

    Donna, what gorgeous blooms! I really love both of them.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Xuan

  • haxuan
    11 years ago

    Donna, what gorgeous blooms! I really love both of them.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Xuan

  • berkeleysgr8
    11 years ago

    Can you detect any scent from the Sweet Lillian? I was just putting together an order with a company and was going back and forth on whether to add her to the cart (I gotta draw the line somewhere... I can't buy ALL the bulbs!) I love, love, love cybisters!

  • dondeldux z6b South Shore Massachusetts
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks Xuan and Tina,

    Alas no, I don't detect any fragrance from Sweet Lilian. Her flowers are on the small size, about 4+ inches after curling back but Oh so pretty...

    I am editing this thread to add that I just did a search on Sweet Lilian and Josh (where are you?) posted a picture and his /sweet Lilian WAS fragrant...so, just because mine isn't, some are! I will keep sniffing as in some of my other varieties the fragrance takes a few days after being open to appear. We'll see....

    This is my second edit; didn't know if it would let me do it or not...
    I just noticed that Sweet Lilian has the same striped scape that my Chico has (see post further down on the page). Both of these bulbs were sitting in my kitchen window where they just got light, no sun really. But those are the only two so far. I just thought these striped scapes are unique and add more visual interest to the overall look of the blooming.

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    This post was edited by dondeldux on Sat, Dec 15, 12 at 9:27

  • rene09
    11 years ago

    Beautiful, I don't have either one of those!

  • lenanen
    11 years ago

    They are lovely Donna! Your Lilian has strong coloring, fantastic.
    My first Lilian has very subtle colors and a lot of white, very charming, but I was pleased to notice that my new Lilian ordered this fall has more red.

    Neither one has any fragrance.

  • kaboehm (zone 9a, TX USA)
    11 years ago

    My Sweet Lillian has a sweet scent.
    K

  • haweha
    11 years ago

    6 florets per umbel, that is a lot of "bloom" on your "Sweet Lilian"!
    Did you carefully crosspollinate each flower from "Lima" with "Sweet Lilian" and vice-versa SELBSTVRSTAENDLICH? You can only WIN.

    A Cybister with a white midrib that it extends throughout the segment would be WIN. (Look at "Tiramisu")

    Referring to your possible objection "Oh, I abstain - behold Brethren and Sistren, THEM cute flowers might fade as instantly, after I pollinated them" I tell you - I do not care about that as regards the beauty of the flowers and be them from my own creation. I take the pictures, I capture the moment on my harddisc for eternities, and GOOD IS.LOL! Pollinate 'em!

  • jodik_gw
    11 years ago

    I never detected a scent on mine, either... and I had two bulbs. It seems to have "fairy dust", too... that special sparkling it shows in certain light! Sweet Lilian was always one of my favorites!

    Jewel is the only bulb I've ever detected a scent from. Not even Apple Blossom held a scent, as far as I could tell.

  • dondeldux z6b South Shore Massachusetts
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hans-Werner,

    I haven't removed the pollen from Sweet Lilian. I am still taking pictures. I DO plan to put Lima as well as Tango on her SECOND scape. That one I will pull the pollen sacs off immediately and since I will have my pictures from the first scape (lucky 6) I will gladly sacrifice the flowers on the second scape. I am hoping that maybe between the first and second scapes a few roots will grow as she's still wobbly in the pot.
    I did dab 2 flowers on Tango with Sweet Lilian though..too soon to see if it took.


    I didn't remove all the pollen in time from my last flowers of Lima either as last year I must have made a dozen crosses both ways using Lima and I ended up with nothing. But of course I have gobs of Lima pollen as I had 2 bulbs bloom for me...

    Thanks for the advice!!

    Donna

  • lenanen
    11 years ago

    Donna how does Tango x Sweet Lilian look like at the moment? you might have written about it somewhere just couldn't find it, sorry... The thing is I just discovered Lilian has a third scape emerging and thought what the heck, should I give it a try?

  • dondeldux z6b South Shore Massachusetts
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Leena,

    All pollination attempts on Tango aborted.

    And, one by one I am loosing the pollination attempts on the first flower of Sweet Lilian. I have a Chico and a Tango left but they appear to have stopped growing, but have yet to shrivel.

    I am freshly pollinating the second 4 flowers of Sweet Lilian (which I removed the pollen sacs before they opened). It remains to be seen if any of these will take. I have done Chico, Tango and Lima. I have one more to choose. Maybe I'll try Half & Half...

    Hopefully, something on your Sweet Lilian will take.. as you know, we gals have to be in the mood don't we ;-)

    I have put Sweet Lilian on Exotic Star..too early to tell yet.

    I go through this each year, dozens of crosses and only a very few take..probably a good thing as I am already up to my eyeballs in seedlings from the past 3 years!! ;-) Donna

    I just rechecked what I put on Sweet Lilian, and it was Rio Negro not Chico. I still have the 4th flower yet to do.. either Chico or Half & Half, I'll have to think about this...what do you think? Maybe a non cybister for a change..Half & Half??

    This post was edited by dondeldux on Sun, Jan 6, 13 at 7:35

  • lenanen
    11 years ago

    I think Half & Half should get a chance! :D
    Oh my the colors and great shape of the future offspring! Only if Lilian would see it from our point of view and decide to co-operate...

    I have tried Exotic Star and Jungle Star on her, nothing. I tried SL pollen on Exotic Star, nothing. So, I won't waste H. papilio-related on her at least. But these are just my experiences with one specimen of SL.
    My second specimen of SL differs from the first colorwise at least, maybe it would be more willing to produce too?! I would have Bogota pollen... hmm, what else?

    This post was edited by lenanen on Fri, Jan 25, 13 at 19:30

  • dondeldux z6b South Shore Massachusetts
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I am going to do Half & Half!

    As for one of your Sweet Lilians being darker than the other I think it's just new bulb stress. My new Exotic Star (bought this year) gave me very pale flowers and the 5th flower was as dark as my older bulb from several years ago. Only after of course, I threw all the pollen away from the first 4 flowers!
    I am currently dabbing Sweet Lilian on the darker flower probably will end up like yours. I also put Blossom Peacock on one of the paler flowers just on a whim...still hanging in there so who knows..Donna

  • dondeldux z6b South Shore Massachusetts
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Just an update on the seedpods on Sweet Lllian: First scape grew 5 seedpods to the size of chic peas and then aborted. Second scape with 4 flowers did the same, all aborted. I now am waiting on the 3rd scape to bloom but don't hold out much hope of anything taking...but I'll try again...

    I had 4 pods on Rio Negro and I'm down to 2 and they aren't shiny like they were, so I think these too are a goner...

    I've still got 2 pods on papilio but it's early but I'm hopeful about these and of course my Exotic Star x Blossom Peacock. Also 2 seedpods on Magic Green x Tango...

    Plenty of flowers coming and plenty of pollen so I'll keep trying for something unique.

    Oh, and I had 4 seedpods (small) on Half and Half and I'm down to one...Donna

  • HU-17497
    11 years ago

    good luck Donna, hopefully something takes. I made the mistake of letting my little garden buddy help me out in pollinating "OUR" flowers. he does a great job, he grabs a Q-tip and just start pollinating from 1 flower to the next, then when I get home he surprises me and tells me all about it. so I'll never know what crosses I have other than the seed donner.

  • dondeldux z6b South Shore Massachusetts
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Well that's good training for your adorable budding gardner!! Lots of us grow seedlings that we only know who the seed parent is..and sometimes you can back it in when they bloom if you keep notes on what was blooming at the same time. This is all about having fun anyway...Donna

  • kaboehm (zone 9a, TX USA)
    11 years ago

    Donna, do you keep such records?
    K

  • dondeldux z6b South Shore Massachusetts
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    No I don't, but I take pictures of EVERYTHING and since they are dated and hopefully labeled I can usually tell what was blooming at which time etc. etc...you know that anyway...pictures of seedpods, of seeds, of sprouted seeds, basically, I'm quite disorganized...;-)

  • berkeleysgr8
    11 years ago

    Super cute, Devonfawn! How could you resist having such a handsome little guy "help out" with the pollination. I guess this may help when the "birds and the bees" discussion needs to happen! LOL

    I like Haweha's idea about capturing the blooms in photographs and then doing crosses! I'll have to try to get my boyfriend to photograph the blooms this year... he is a much better photographer than I am!

  • dondeldux z6b South Shore Massachusetts
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    That's the beauty of digital photography, you can take as many photos as you need in different lighting on different days and then just delete the ones that aren't so good. Sometimes I take 30 pictures of any given flower and then cull down to 5 or 6. I'm in real trouble when I like them all!!...Donna

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