The last of the lilies

Last year, while attending the Puget Sound Garden Fling, a garden tour geared toward bloggers and other people specializing in social media focused on plants and/or gardening, I fell in love with a lily.  I saw it in one Pacific Northwest garden after another but I never got the name of the cultivar until I posted a photo of it on Instagram when a commentator told me it was 'Zeba'.  I searched for it online, found a source based in Holland, and placed an order for three bulbs.  I planted them soon after the bulbs arrived earlier this year.  When I placed the order I wasn't one hundred percent certain 'Zeba' was an exact match for the lily I remembered but, when it bloomed at last, it was!

All three bulbs produced bloom stalks and I cut two of them for this week's first arrangement.  I'd only planned to use one but all three blooms of the first stalk were already fully open so, to give the arrangement a longer vase life, I caved and cut a second stalk with only one of its three flowers open.  I intend to leave the third stalk alone to shine in the garden for as long as it lasts.

I opted for a looser arrangement on this occasion to allow the lily stems to sprawl

Back view: I surprised myself in choosing to combine the lily with Zinnia 'Queeny Red Lime'

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Achillea 'Terracotta', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Leucadendron salignum 'Blush', Lilium 'Zeba', and Zinnia elegans 'Queeny Red Lime'

I'd originally cut Zinnia 'Benary's Giant Wine' to combine with Lilium 'Zeba' but I decided I liked the lily with Zinnia 'Queeny Red Lime' better so the 'Benary's Giant Wine' stems landed in a separate vase (sidelining Leonotis leonurus once again).

I chose to combine this Zinnia with stems of Leucadendron 'Jester' but they're almost too alike in color.  These 'Jester' stems came from a shrub grown in full sun and the color is more red than pink.  When grown in partial shade the foliage leans toward pink.

Back view

Overhead view

Clockwise from the upper left: Abelia grandiflora 'Radiance', Crassula pubescens, Leucanthemum x superbum, Leucadendron 'Jester', and Zinnia 'Benary's Giant Wine'

I've got buds on some of my dahlias but dahlia buds seem to take forever to mature...Maybe Leonotis will eventually get its time in a vase next week.  If you're looking for more IAVOM creations, check in with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for contributions from other bloggers.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party