As summer begins her slow bend into fall, her riotous colors fade to more subdued tones. Tree frogs begin their nightly chorus, while crickets accompany them on their strings and I look to one of the garden’s later season blooms for some visual distraction before Autumn’s splendor.
The August Lily really isn’t a lily at all. It is a member of the hosta family; Hosta plantaginea. It is a late season show stopper, both for its exotic beauty and its seductive scent.
The ideal location for an August Lily is near a window or door, or along a well-worn path, for there is such a sweet fragrance as one’s clothes brush against this plant and its scent drifts past an open window or ousidet a door.
This August Lily sits quietly in a corner of the front border, hugging a coveted place of honor, waiting for me to open the front door and enjoy its sweet scent on a late summer’s night. Other August lilies sit along the arbor, where they wait for brief interludes after I’ve been working in the prairie garden or the arbor’s adjacent shade garden.
Like many white flowers, the August Lily’s scent grows strongest at night, which also makes it an attractive night pollinator. Some plants work harder at night, attracting moths and small insects who are nocturnal and spread pollen when the rest of the garden’s cast of characters is at rest . . .
. . . and if one of the August lily’s stalks should happen to bend under the weight of its blooms, what finer spot could there be but in a vase placed in a prominent spot, such as the kitchen counter?
I’m finally back online!!!!
Thanks for identifying the August lily. We have many of those outside. I didn’t know what they were!
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Yea! Nice to see you here today, L. Marie. 🙂
You are most welcome. They are magnificent this year and I hope you can catch a whiff of their fragrance as you walk about.
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So lovely, Penny! Do you think your August Lily might be the same as my Hosta ‘Royal Standard’? They look so similar. Perhaps they are cousins? Mine are putting on a wonderful show this week, too. They were already growing under my towering pines when I bought my house 28 years ago. They have added their gentle ,white beauty to our Shade Garden every single year. They are truly a perennial favorite! I just spent many hours pulling weeds… and counting my blessings. Hope you are having a nice day in the garden, too, Penny! ♡
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It very well could be Hosta Royal Standard, Dawn. I looked it up and it seems to have leaves a little lighter green, which these have. They were here when we moved here 10 years ago and have been divided and are wonderful. I am impressed that yours have set roots under the pines. Not easy to grow plants under pines.
Pulling weeds and counting blessings – perfect way to spend time. Thank you, Dawn – and yes, I have been in the garden and have the dirty, chipped nails to prove it. 🙂
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So this one needs shade? I know lilies like sun, but hostas prefer shade. I love the look of it in your vase with the other flowers.
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Yes, it does need shade, Andra. It is in partial sun here, like 20 minutes worth.Thank you. Those are pickings and parings from a long day of weeding
.
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The lily made me think of Easter, an Easter in August, and just as heavenly. Have a super weekend.
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What a nice thought, Marilyn. Thank you. Its fragrance is quite reminiscent of an Easter lily and now I will think of you and your comment when its fragrance drifts past me. 🙂
Same to you, Marilyn. We are having some nice weather right now; windows open, crickets chirping. It won’t last, but, enjoying it while it does.
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What a beautiful lily-hosta. 🙂 Hostas don’t fare too well in our climate and I’m confident this lily wouldn’t last a day. But oh she is so beautiful. I love Marilyn’s comment! It does remind me of Easter. The fragrance must be so fabulous. I have posted photos before of a particular flowering cactus that blooms only at night, has a beautiful white flower that is very fragrant. You gave me the idea that it must also be a night pollinator. I never actually thought about how there might be all sorts of activity that I’m missing. I don’t have the delight of the frogs to look forward to, either. Are those the ones you call “peepers?” Some day I’m coming to visit, Penny. You might have to kick me out. LOL!
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Thank you, Debra.
I know hosta don’t do well in southern climes, but, I do wish I could bottle the fragrance for you. I am sure your night-blooming cactus is a night pollinator. Moths and small insects (and even bats, yuk), help to spread all that pollen. We had a linden tree in our first house that bloomed each year. I used to go out and stand under it at night must to drink in the scent. Then, visiting the Arboretum, discovered Linden Honey. I now think of all the bees that must have been busy on that tree. 🙂
These are tree frogs, Debra, and they are just as loud as the peepers, which are active in spring. We’ve had the windows open with some cool evenings, which is wonderful, but, oh the noise from the tree frogs and cicadas and crickets. 🙂
You are welcome here anytime – no kicking allowed.
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It’s nice to learn about the August Lily! As for the chirps of late summer, out recent UK visitors were shocked by the noise the cicadas made every night we sat out on the deck!
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I imagine your UK guests were a bit shocked, Janet. What a racket they make. They are especially loud this year, but, nothing like the 17 year cicadas.
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We had such beautiful hostas! And then, the deer found them and loved them even more….Munched them down to the ground in one night. What a wonderful buffet it must have been!
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Deer can be so destructive to plants, especially hostas. We have lost quite a few hostas and many other plants here with our deer. I’ve learned to spray them with repellent just as they start to emerge in the spring and the spray at intervals. We get munching, but, they tend to leave them alone. They key, it seems, is to get them sprayed early. Thanks for commenting – and good luck with the deer.
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