Lilies

Absolutely beautiful. Their scent wafts all around the home when you have the cut ones. I have to snip the centres as soon as I buy them because of the cats.
To see them in gardens is a lovely sight. Gorgeous.

They’re lovely. Mine are just coming into bloom. Watch out for red lily beetle, they devastate the plant.

I love lilies but can't have them in the house because their strong scent gives me awful headaches.

Great in the garden though.

I often buy Aldi' s beautiful Stargazer lilies and love their scent. Was disappointed when I mistakenly bought the 'wrong' ones.
As they opened they were far brighter in colour and had no scent.
Asiatic or oriental? Must check again as one has colour while the other has scent!
Next year I ''ll try growing some in pots.

With the cool damp weather we've been having, our lilies haven't done so well. Some of the buds have gone mouldy, so no flowers. Others are only just in bud and quite late flowering. Disappointing really.

J52 - yes, aware of lily beetles - they caught me unawares a couple of years ago - now I’m on their case as soon as I spy them! Odd they’re so brightly coloured - not great camouflage!

Lovely flowers but I too can’t bear the smell.

Lovely!!
Scent is gorgeous but gives me a headache nowadays!

Any advice on lily beetle?
I just watch for it then pick off!

Mine have just ' gone over'.

I have attempted to grow Calla Lillies but I have given up. No idea what I do wrong but maybe I over water them.

They look lovely. Mine are still in bud. I don't know why they are so late this year. I leave the lily beetle alone and rub off the eggs. Ick!

Actually I haven't seen any lily beetle this year?

I just picked the beetles off too Namsnanny - there weren’t too many - about 4 a few weeks ago.

I have replaced all my lilies this year and a couple of pots of the new Asiatics are just coming into bloom but they don’t seem to have that wonderful heady scent that the previous ones had. The hemerocallis are doing well though. I read somewhere that you can eat them, so we shalln’t starve,eh? ! Lots of lily beetles, here, too. Bleddy things!

Greyduster…...I think I'm right in saying
'oriental'=scented and 'asiatic'=bright colour!

There was a section on Friday's Gardeners' World about lily beetles. Picking them off seems best. Apparently they can smell lilies and then alert other beetles where they are. Aren't they red for danger so predators avoid them. I hate the larvae wrapped in their own excrement!

That’ll be it, then Namsnanny; thankyou.??

I love lily beetles they are beautiful and haven’t the heart to kill them, so I pick them off and troop off up our service road with them before releasing them about a quarter of a mile away, probably some fine their way back but it is largely a successful strategy.

I know the thought of their larvae is yucky but we are talking natural world here?

Whitewavemark2, then you'd love the colourful Christmas beetles in Oz. You can hear them hitting things as they land.

I'm waiting patiently for the buds to open on my pot planted lilies there are about a dozen buds just waiting to open.

These have so amazed me. I buy bulbs every year and the 3 bulbs I bought from Morrisons for £2 have produced this gorgeous black lily. Wish I'd kept the label.

Ooh, jealous, WOODMOUSE49 - love those dark lilies!

ev just googled them. Love their metallic colours. Beetles are just lovely.

Beetles love the smell of the lilies. To mask the scent of the plant use blended/crushed garlic filtered into a spray bottle.
Mix in some washing up liquid to make it foam and stick to the leaves for longer and apply it fairly regularly.

Crush a couple of cloves - diffuse in 1/2 cup of boiling water.
Leave for 5 mins and filter/strain before putting in the bottle. Keep it in a sealed jar for next time.

Meant to say - spray under the leaves too. IMPORTANT. My lovely black lily has no beetles!