I am involved in restoring a wooded park -- removing invasives and clearing a new walking trail. There are a couple of these beauties -- Carolina lilies -- right in the middle of where the trail will lie. I am wanting to move them to an area off the trail where we discovered a handful more. They are still small at this point so I am hoping for the best. Any advice for moving these? I think they are a bulb?
Julie, that sounds like a great project. I don't know about Carolina lilies specifically, but I usually try to dig as wide and deep as possible when I don't know how big a root ball is.
Anything you do will be much, much better than nothing!
L. michauxii as a stoloniferous bulb, so you may encounter additional bulbs several inches from the bulb producing the stem. Dig carefully and replant in well-drained, humus-rich acid soil, being sure to bury to the full original depth.
I ended up moving them before I heard from you all, and I'm hoping for the best. One of them broke off but I planted the bulb anyway. We'll see next year!
They'll do a lot better than they would have if you had just left them where they were. Good for you!
