The lilies are doing well this year in the garden. I am seduced by the cheap packs of bulbs I see in the UK after Christmas. I haven’t really a plan of where they should go.
Its easier to find a place for them in the winter when you have forgotten what other perennials you have planted and it looks as if the place is empty. I don’t regret squeezing them in as their perfume is mingling with the second flowering of the Wisteria and filling the garden with perfume. I never see much interesting life on them: the odd spider or fly – certainly no bees!
I was so surprised to see this dull moth sitting on one of the lilies sipping nectar!
Then I saw the orange flash. I had never seen a hummingbird hawk moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) at rest on a flower.
This moth had worked out that it could expend much less energy at rest on the lily and still reach the nectar.
He still couldn’t resist the odd hover from time to time.
The moth spent a few minutes on the lily and seemed to be enjoying it as a nectar source. I had always thought that the lilies either had poor nectar or they were not recognised as nectar sources because they are “exotic”.
What are other gardeners experiences with lilies? Do you get interesting critters on your lilies (maybe bees :))?
a french garden 