Stargazing in the Garden--August Means Fragrant "Stargazer" Lilies

The return of August each year reawakens my love for this eighth month, a love sweetly burdened with poignancy. Summer, like the youth that imbued it with memories, cannot last. In my mind, if not in reality, it has always felt warm, lazy, slightly sad, fully ripe with maturity before the fall, a time of endings and goodbyes and evenings bathed in moonglow. On still afternoons the air barely moves, heavy and fragrant with the garden's last roses and the perfume of lilies. The Stargazer lilies bloom in August, like always, and once again I have stars in my eyes.

Last night I did a search on the internet and made three delightful discoveries related to these fragrant beauties. One was a specialty nursery in Olympia, Washington, called The Lily Pad Bulb Farm. The other was the website of the North American Lily Society. The opening page is not very colorful but if you click on the tabs you will find many photos and a great deal of helpful information. And here is the link to the Pacific Bulb Society, with many more lovely images of these and other lilies. Stargazer lilies belong to the Oriental Hybrid horticultural classification, which contains many others of comparable beauty and fragrance.

In case you can't wait, here are two more lovelies from my own Tacoma garden. Enjoy them. May the lilies, and the month of August, remind you that all we really have is the moment we're in right now, so savor each and every one to add to your sweet August memories.