Lilies

It's been an absolutely spectacular summer for my small lily plantation (it's a small plantation-- about 4 dozen plants--but the lilies are enormous).  The first set, which bloom in june mostly, were absolutely abundant in buds, with 4 and 5 foot tall stalks holding up to 16 large buds and then 16 flowers, although not all blooming at once.  The second set, which are the ones that have a lot of scent, bloom in late July and August.  They have been very tall--several of them over 6 feet--and they too have had multiple flowers, though not above 7 or 8 on any one stalk and most fewer.  But over all they are just amazing.

They're an easy plant to grow.  Like tulips, they are bulbs, but they don't have hardened outsides so they are sensitive to sitting around in wet soil throughout the winter.  You want to have them where there is good drainage.  But other than that and feeding them two or three times during the growing season with miracle grow or some such ordinary fertilizer, they just provide their own motivation.  And then they produce your astonishment.  See below!

I buy mine from a place in Oregon, I think, called B&D Lilies.  They're a very nice lot of people who provide good information as well as good bulbs.  They'll send you a free newsletter if you ask, or a beautiful catalog.  The bulbs are a little on the pricey side, but they multiply over the years and if you have sun and good drainage, you're likely to have many more than you originally bought over 5 or 6 years.  The orange ones below started out with only one bulb, and now there are six stalks, each with multiple gorgeous orange lilies.

 The white one with the yellow ribs below is 8 inches across and divinely scented.

 The yellow ones above are quite tall and the double pinks below them are not tiny flowers: they are just quite a ways away.

 Rose gave me this 2.5-foot tall vase: absolutely necessary for lilies.

All orange, all the time.  Started with one, now there are six stalks with 8-10 flowers on each one.  Actually, there's very little time in my life in the summer to do anything but look at the lilies.

Seabright Farm and Cottages or Something

Ed and I went up to Seabright the other day to see how things were going up there.  There's lots going on and they have tours every day from Wednesday to Sunday.  Some things were pretty surprising.  The place has been featured as having splendid ocean views.  But the primary view you see as you drive down the entrance road are several two story houses between you and the ocean.  I had understood that the houses would be relatively small, but these three don't look small and they certainly look like they're in the way of a potential buyer's view.

 There's a lovely little reconstructed house (above) which is being used for a sales office.  It's filled with old Point memorabilia of sorts; or at least old furnishings for a very nice nostalgia touch.

And a big barn is going up.  I don't know what the buyers of these 58 (?) small-ish lots are going to be doing in or with a barn; I don't think it's for horses.  But who knows, maybe Point Roberts will become a center for square or contra dancing.

If you've got some free time, it's worth taking a look at it.  Just to see what they have in mind.  Not exactly the Point Roberts we are used to.  More planned, I suppose.  And planning is not exactly a word I spontaneously associate with Point Roberts.

The Border Changes Its Policy (or one of them, anyway)

A few weeks ago, news of a petition to urge the U.S. Border station here at Point Roberts to remedy the problem of the increasingly problematic long lines at our entrance to home circulated.  The number of Canadians who come here for visits to their cottages, to their gas stations away from home, and to their package delivery stores away from home continues to increase, though the number of entry-ways and the hours of the Nexus lanes remain unchanged.  There's not much you can do if every car must be at least visually checked to make more cars go through the same five lanes and the same hours.

Et voila!  A petition is signed by those of us here on this side and in no time at all by U.S. Customs standards, the hours are changed.  "What? " they say.  "You need more time for Nexus lanes?  Why did you not say something earlier?  It is of course our pleasure to meet your needs."

And now, I am told, the Nexus lane coming into Point Roberts will be open from 9 am to 9 pm.  Quelle surprise!