What to do with lily bulbs?

My mother bought a bunch of oriental lily bulbs that were clearanced out at Wal-Mart. Should she go ahead and plant them now or wait until spring? If she should wait until spring, how should they be stored so they will not rot?

Thanks for the information.

Lisa Moore

Were they potted and thus done blooming for the year? Go ahead and plant them now. They'll have plenty of time to get settled and give a great show next year.

No, they werent potted, they are in plastic bags with a little sawdust.

Plant plant plant, tout suite.

If they are dry and feel a bit loose (scales), soak for a bit to plump them up before planting. Give them a good drink after planting, even if it is raining.

Inanda

Once they are planted, should she continue to water them daily to get them to grow or what?

No no, not at all. Lilies with wet feet ROT!!!

Just water them normally like the rest of the garden. I don't know when your first frost date is? Depending on that, she can fertilize a bit, but as low as possible first and 3rd numbers. You want root growth, but as low N & P as possible. If it doesn't mess up the looks of her garden, it is a good idea to put a bag of leaves over them after the first real frost. This means that the surrounding soil will be warmer longer, giving the bulbs as much time as possible to plump up to gain strength (starches etc) for the winter. I think in your area I would take off the bag of leaves before real winter arrives. Ken will hopefully jump in here to see what he thinks of this idea. Growing in my zone 2b is so different from
5b.

Maybe Langr will have some ideas about this.
Inanda