Also, I'm looking for a purple lily to accent a border with a lot of white and light pink old garden roses. Any one have any favorites to recommend? I've been thinking about Midnight...

Thanks for your help!

Lisa

I may be wrong but I don't think there are any lilies with pink anthers. Some pictures can be deceptive, since the anther may be in shade (with reflected color from the petals) with the petals in light - so the photo gets exposed for the brighter petals. My understanding is that anther color falls somewhere on the spectrum of yellow - orange - dark brown.

If anyone knows of lilies with pink anthers please feel free to correct me.

I'm also thinking of buying Midnight this Fall. But, I have other trumpets and they're a great fragrant lily that blooms just before the orientals and their bloom shape is a nice complement to roses.

Just a note for borders: Trumpets are tall and lean towards the sun (will probably need to be staked when they bloom) and their blooms tend rather strongly to face the sun. In my border garden with afternoon sun they all face my neighbors yard instead of mine. So if yours will be planted in part sun you want to consider sun direction better than I did! :) If you plant trumpets behind or sort of amongst your rose bushes, the rose might be able to take the place of staking.

There are some pretty dark pink-red lilies (Black Beauty, Scheherazade, among others) and some dark pink Asiatics (check out The Lily Gardens "pink asiatic" link). However, I don't know of any other purple lily except a longiflorum from a dutch wholesaler that I haven't seen for sale in the US called "Divine".

-Helen

But notice in their picture it looks more dark pink than purple. That may turn out to be the case with Midnight as well. I don't think lilies have a "blue" color available to get a true purple from (like Iris's for example).

Anyone out there with Midnight who'd like to tell us how purple it is please chime in.

-Helen

Thanks for all the information. I guess I can stop looking for lilies with pink anthers now, lol. It also sounds like I've found the only purple lily, Midnight.

Devine looks good to me. I've been considering Pink Perfection and Summer Palace as a dusky or greyed dark pink (instead of bright)to go in with the roses. Any comments on these dark pinks? I haven't seen any of them in person- only going off of website photos which can be deceiving.

While I'm posting, any opinions on a nice lily to complement buff roses like Buff Beauty, Jude the Obscure or Crocus Rose?

Thank you for all the wonderful ideas.

Lisa

I found another very pretty purple lily. "Angela North" is a Lankongense hybrid sold by The Lily Garden.

-Helen

The Fall 2006 B&D lilies has a different address than their Spring catalog I listed in my prior post . (Even the home page is different, www.bdlilies.com in the Fall and www.snowcreekdaylilies.com in the Spring, go figure.) The selection of lilies will also have some differences so you should check out both. The Fall catalog is not sold out. I'm not sure when the Spring 2007 will come online.

-Helen

Black Beauty

Black Beauty close-up

Pink Perfection Strain in sun - looks deeper on a shady day

White Henryi

Anaconda (Trumpet) - looks darker in some catalog pictures, but this is what mine looks like

Unknown Asiatics - just to give you some more ideas

Fangio is also more purple than pink. I think it's an Asiatic-Trumpet cross.

Jeanne

Lisa

The Longiflorums are the best for not turning their flowers to the sun but are imported by the dutch growers in the spring. You might want to call Snowcreek Daylilies/B&D Lilies to see if they will be offering "Divine" again this spring.

I don't have Angela North but I have lilium Lankongense (one of its species parents). The stems tend to lean toward the sun but staking can fix that (which is easy to do with plant props or the branches of other plants - such as roses - since they don't get as tall as trumpets). Since their "turk's cap" shaped flowers hang downward like a bell, facing the sun isn't an issue. Lankongense has a smaller more delicate bloom with a beautiful rose like fragrance and more delicate foliage. Because it is less "dominant" in the garden it and (I presume) its hybrids would work well with companion plants.

-Helen

Deanna

I'm a year behind in a similar situation. Looking for pink rose/purple lily/chartresse ground cover combo. Have Redoute roses, considering Lady's Mantle and Landini

:)

-Helen