How fast should lilies multiply?

These lilies were planted in the fall of 2011. They have already started emerging, despite our cold weather, and I cannot believe how fast the bulbs have multiplied. We've got 1 more night of freezing temps then it appears we'll start our warm up. I'm looking forward to seeing some blooms. I already had lilies blooming at this time last year.

I have more bulbs coming from B & D, Brent and Becky's and Touch of Nature. Now that the lilies my other lilies have multiplied so quickly, I'm going to have to think carefully about where I'm going to plant the new lilies.

Cem.
Those look like asiatics.
They do multiply faster than orientals.
I was faced with the same delema.
I had orders in to LillyNook and later the same month I was offered another lily situation I couldnt refuse.
By that spring I had 80 different varieties ordered besides the pot lilies from LN.
I found out Lilies can be planted anywhere.I even have them at the edge of a part shade area that has more sun in the morning and they do fine.
I dig a hole about 6 or 8 inches wide 6 inches deep and put three bulbs in.
Now that I have that tip down pat I put lilies anywhere I can find six inches of space.They find their way to the sun above perennials.
#1 edge of part shade area
#2 Lots of lilies

This message was edited Mar 29, 2013 4:24 AM

Wow. Looking at your pictures has made me rethink where I would put lilies. I have monarda, delphs, ligularia, troillius, paniculata phlox growing along a fence to the east that gets full sun from about 10am to sunset. I bet I could plant some lilies sort of in front of an in between them for a slightly shorter row of color. Can hardly wait.

JoAnn, your garden vistas are beautiful. I usually plant each lily bulb at least a foot apart. That's why I'm surprised that I have such confluent growth on some of the lilies. Since it's going to be warmer this weekend, I'll have to check the tags to see which lilies are so prolific. Thanks for the suggestions about where to plant the bulbs, I've got 66+ bulbs to plant, not to mention the ones I put in pots that came from Van Engelen last fall.

Mary, you've got a great mix in your garden. Please post some pictures when they're blooming.

Today, my Touch of Nature and B and D orders arrived. I couldn't believe the size of some of the bulbs from B and D, they are the largest lily bulbs I've ever seen.

Annette

66 bulbs plus sounds strident.I am petering out so only do small amounts of gardening at a time.
I space orientals a bit further apart but do have some Tigerbabies that are 3 to a hole
I also like to plant short and tall lilies with each other.
#1 Salmon Classic and Matrix.hope I can find the picture
#2 Border lily Tiny Snowflake with heucheras and dwarf astilbe Younique white
I like The Lily Nook but their bulbs are expensive when shipped from Canada.See if you can get pot or border lilies here.I think B&D has some
#3 tiny Icon with Country Western astilbe.This is along a walk right at the edge.

This message was edited Mar 29, 2013 3:21 AM

This message was edited Mar 29, 2013 4:27 AM

I have an extra packet of Dowdeswell delphs that was a freebie. I have no place to put them as I ordered some tall double whites and their shortest variety so that fills my bill. Anyone interested? I would be happy to send them on gratis. Rather pricy and don't want to just pitch them.

Well, that was fast. All gone.

This message was edited Mar 29, 2013 7:59 AM

The amazing thing is that Asiatics do tend to multiply yet the Orientals really tend not to.I attribute the shrinking to the attack of the lily beetle. Since Asiatics sprout and bloom earlier, they have fewer problems in my area.

And yes, I too have ordered more Orientals. I find there is more control in containers and can do some gardening sitting down, easing the back misery.

I spray for the Red Beetle and dont have too many problems with it. I do have a vole problem.They can subtract lilies .
It doesnt matter which lily it is.Beetles love all varieties.
Its almost time to spray for beetles.I drench the plants as soon as they pop out of the ground which should be in a couple of weeks if temps stay between 40 and 50.

Here are a few more of the lilies that have multiplied rapidly. I finally pulled some of their tags.

Here is LA Marquee, OP Siesta, and LA Opening Night, all of which have many more stems this year. I can't wait for the bloom season to start.

Ohhhhh, I am so envious.

Mary, you're gonna have boolms sooner than you think!

I can't believe your temps are lower than ours. That is just crazy. I think the Japanese current (we live on the inlet) brings some warm air but we have lots of snow. Every afternoon around 2-3 the wind kicks up from the west right off the inlet and to me it feels cool. Who knows. I know we are in a microclimate even for Anchorage so I am grateful for any climate help I can get. I just received my Swan Island Dahlias and have the in pots. Two more shipments to go for Dahlias and one from TLG. Wanted some shorter lilies and I ordered Tiramasu. Just couldn't resist.

Mary, does it get much cooler at night? Our temperatures are generally a high that is 15 or so degrees warmer than the coolest temp. I notice that we have a lot of "feels like" temps this winter, probably due to the winds. I don't think it has been unseasonably cold, but the winds have been killers, and fairly unusual for us.

We had a high of about 60 today. What a great feeling! Tooling around I found what I think is the intersectional planted last year. About a half inch high. If it does not bloom this year I'll check the depth even though I think I was careful not to go too deep. It is always possible that fall bulb planting made it deeper.

While we're at the coast, our property is physically about 4.5 miles from Long Island Sound. About 5 miles north of here, it's at least 5-10 degrees colder even though it is in the same city.

The Dahlias and Calla lily bulbs have been indoors for 2 months and can't wait to go outside. Spring has just come so late that we're still doing winter cleanup. This year was the worst due to storms, but we're getting there.

It isn't varying much, maybe 10-15 degrees. It's 40F in the shade on the back porch and 74F in the sun in a protected area on the front porch. When we get the breeze, the 'feels like' thing really kicks in. Brrrrr. Woody and I went for a long walk through the subdivision and even with the breeze I only wore a fleece pullover. I was just fine. Course walking briskly warms you up. The snow is melting fast. Pond is frozen in the morning and thawed out by noon. My water celery is sending up shoots by the pond. It is on the west side so the sun shines on the rocks and warms up the soil where it is planted. I can see where it could become invasive. Gosh I surely hope it isn't that dratted horse tail that has invaded my garden (the entire back yard) two years ago. Hate that stuff. Oh, I also planted a marginal in that area so hopefully it is also going to came back.

Mary, I'm glad you're starting to get your spring deliveries.We have temps that are 20 degrees warmer tonight than we were last night. It looks like we're heading into warmer weather next week, with temps in the 60's to low 70's during the day, and 40's-50's at night. This is the coldest spring that I remember in a long time.

I see microclimates in my own neighborhood. We live on a street that has a much higher elevation than other streets, and our grass stayed green much longer into winter than our neighbors on other streets.

I got my order from Touch of Nature and B and D Lilies last week, but I'm still waiting on the Brent and Becky's order. My roses came from Heirloom and Reagan's Nursery as well. I've got a whole lot of planting to do ;~)

You and me both. Gardening in my garage has put a terrible strain on our electrical circuits. Keep blowing breakers. No more room in the switch box for more breakers or circuits. Need a new house with more breakers. lol. NOT going to happen.

Just in the garden doing something else and noticed a bulb half an inch below the surface.
Back to the garage for the spade and bucket.
Dug out the bulb and a big stone.The bulb was bigger than a grapefruit.I wish I hyad my camera.
I put it back and covered it.
Might be Satisfaction.I've been promising myself to re plant them.

Holy Cow! The lily must be a tree. Conc d'Or has stems about 1" in diameter but the bulb isn't that big.

Its this lily.
Buggy Crazy's bulbs are large.I planted it 3 seasons ago.It might be Spank but it was in asiatic mix and none were named.
Ther unopened buds behind are Satisfaction.

This message was edited Apr 7, 2013 10:53 AM

Satisfaction looks humongous. How tall are they?

I think they were about 5 feet.They are among the first lilies I planted in '08.
Great color,sort of Coral.Blooms last year were spotty.It was the spring from hell and hot dry summer.

This message was edited Apr 7, 2013 11:19 AM

They are beautiful. I have some lilies that are white and have that pink, yellow flared center. Love them.

JoAnn, your Satisfaction is beautiful. Speaking of large bulbs, the OP Ormea bulbs that I received from B and D liles were huge. I've never had a bulb this large before. I put a quarter next to it for a comparison in size, WOW!

Today was beautiful here and sunny so I checked of the lilies that I potted on January 27, and put outside the basement. They were from the end of season sale from Van Engelen last fall, and I forgot that I had them. When I found them in January, some of them appeared dessicated and moldy, Anastasia being one of them. Today I found it starting to sprout, along with White Pixels and Orange Electric.

The biggest lily stem I've seen so far is on OP Shocking, it was at least an inch thick, and I had over 80 blooms, from 3 bulbs that were originally planted in 2009, with the best bloom season in 2012. The plants were over 6' tall. I'll be interested to see how it does this year.

Annette

Those look great.
I found some escapees from a lily patch and potted them.Hoping they grow.Pots are on the deck,hope for rain.
When I dug that huge bulb to replant it I noticed the Satisfactions were heaving so I dug and reset them too.
I learned my digging days are comming to an end.
The Satisfactions had already started shooting.
I probably need to reset the Shocking bulbs from '08 too but it might be too late and I will do it this fall.

I notice that ge1836 is in Zone 6a and has some shoots emerging. I am in zone 5b and some of my shoots are also emerging thanks to a warm week and sun (finally!), My problem is that there is a prediction of snow/rain and much colder temps for the next few days. I covered them with pine boughs. What do the rest of you do?

Garden 56: You did the most you could do.If you dont have too many lilies and they are up over 6 inches,try to cover with pots.
They can take some cold but not freezing temps .