North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

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I've about given up on all lilies except Tiger lilies.  I tried for years to grow them here, but couldn't overcome predation by critters.  Groundhogs ate the buds (I shot about 6 or 7 groundhogs every year  in the back yard, but they still got the best of me), and voles ate the roots.

I think I'll plant some peonies.  They are pretty easy to grow, and the deer and groundhogs don't bother them much.

Eddie Earles

-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Farnsworth
Sent: Feb 6, 2009 1:48 PM
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Mid summer fragrance

Here in Northeast Kansas, everyone has surprise lilies (or naked ladies) and they are very fragrant, coming up some time in August. You'll need a lot of them to overpower you outdoors, but if you bring them into the house it only takes a few.

-Eric Farnsworth,  

Still legally zone 5

--- On Fri, 2/6/09, nafex-request@lists.ibiblio.org <nafex-request@lists.ibiblio.org> wrote:

Message: 4
Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2009 11:18:07 -0500
From: Hilborn.E@epamail.epa.gov
Subject: [NAFEX] Fragrant summer flowers - OT
To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID:
	<OF00707AAC.59845DFC-ON85257555.0057BCF7-85257555.005A625E@epamail.epa.gov>
	
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Eddie,

I am in zone 7a and greatly enjoy my gardenia's scent in midsummer.
Mine blooms over a few month period, approximately June through August.
It seems that zone 6 may be right  on the edge of where they may survive
unless you have a suitable microclimate to offer.   I believe that they
have bred hardier varieties in recent years and they are now offered for
sale in many areas.  Unknowns include the suitability of your soil and
specific hardy varieties and their bloom periods.  A plant to
investigate anyway...

Another suggestion would be Oriental lilies and some varieties of Hosta
(old-fashioned August lily is my favorite) have lovely scents midsummer
and are hardy in zone 6.

No vines that I know of have intense midsummer fragrance. Sweet autumn
clematis will give you a powerful late summer scent, and I appreciate my
hardy jasmine for intense spring/early summer fragrance, although again
it may be tender for zone 6.

Betsy Hilborn
7a NC