Perennial Heaven

I remember planing our first garden at this house, I was looking at a pack of asparagus seed and reading the fine print saw that it would take a whole year to get actual asparagus. “Who needs that?!” I thought. I was blinded by the quick turn around of annuals, but things have changed. I have come to appreciate the patient nature of a perennial plants and truly love the fact that they come back year after year, timing their emergence with the receding snow without me having to do anything.

After I had our daughter and began life as a stay at home mom, I had time to expand the perennial beds around the house. I bought a few different types of lilies to add to the ones already here. Many of the lilies that came with the house started to divide and I begun rearranging and relocating. My favorite, is what I believe to be a High Tea lily tree, they are about 10 feet tall with abundant fragrant flowers that I look forward to every July.

Every time I come in the front door I give everyone who never asked an update on thier progress.

“It’s STARTING!!!!” *she announced to room full of dogs, while my daughter looks at me confused. “Who talking to mama?”

Of the lilies I’ve bought, I remember very few of the names. Adding to the confusion is that sometimes they don’t come up right away. Lilies are a one shot deal, a single flower filled head emerges in the spring and if anything happens too that delicate top, no flowers for you that year. This means that many mornings I am completely surprised by the colors that greet me.

What a beautiful surprise it is! This one is called Forever Susan, and I have no idea how they make dark purple and bright orange look so good.

I have no idea what these ones are called and that’s ok. Or these:

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The insects seem to agree with me.

Lily season is over this year, I’m a little sad. Planting perennials is like a prayer planted in soft earth. It is the hope of future flowers and that is giving me a lot of solace after the past couple years. I finally planted asparagus, along with peony and others. It is the audacity of hope and a practice in patients.

Till next year, you beautiful smelly things!