Lovely Lillies, Lilium, Malvern, Worcestershire.

A warm start to August has really helped my lilies bloom magnificently. Grown from bulbs, these flowers are frost hardy and once planted require little from you to ensure they flower spectacularly every year. The only real problem I have faced is the lily beetle. This beetle is a jewel bright red colour when in its adult form. If you spot them you must remove them by hand and destroy. The beetles are quite pretty and easy to spot, but their young cause amazing amount of damage and will eat not only the flowers and leaves, but also bury down and devour the bulb. They are harder to spot, black brown in colour and maggot like, and as a defence they cover themselves with their own poo. Sadly these also need to be picked off by hand and destroyed.  It is all well worth it though as I hope these pictures from my garden show.