Confessions Part III: What lilies have you planted for 2006?

I think exhibition size is anything over 18cm. They cost an arm and a leg. The ones you gals get from BuggyCrazy is well over that. What do you mean by "are there exceptions"?

Hope springs eternal for no shows. I still watch for the orientals that didn't come up last year. I went digging in there last summer and found some bulbs and they looked OK, so I just put them back. I planted some other orientals last summer that didn't come up and then decided to move them. I went looking and couldn't find one bulb. I consider those gone. If you get to the point that you have to see for yourself, make sure you use a garden fork and not a spade or shovel. I'd give it some more time before doing that.

BTW, my Madonna Lilies are up about 4". I recovered them. Way too early here. Also found some critter holes where I had about 4 or 5 different lilies planted, all pinks, and I'm worried they are gone. The agony of Spring, worrying about no shows.

let me rephrase as this is what I really want to know:

if bulbs are smaller than 18cm, what is the absolute latest lilies could be planted and hope for blooms this year.

Oh, well, that wasn't the point I was trying to make. An immature bulb can put out a stem with 2 or 3 lilies on it (or just 1) and the next year it might have 3 or 4 and the following year it might have 5 or 8. The larger the size bulb sort of dictates the number of blooms up to, I suppose, what is genetically possibly for any one bulb. Species are another whole new ballgame. I believe even the mature bulbs are quite small.

I think for the most part, the bulbs we buy from on-line nurserys and in bags at HD are about in the 12 to 14cm range. So it's usually a few years before they really start to perform.

What a dreary, rainy day today. Makes me want to nap. I'm hoping to get into the new lily bed I'll be planting this spring tomorrow. With all this rain, should be really easy to remove the top thatch I killed off last year. Can't wait to go play in the dirt.

I don't think I answered your real question, Voss. I planted some bulbs last July and while they didn't bloom, I did see the flower stalk come up. Had I been in your zone, maybe they would have bloomed. Any lilies planted this year, I don't get excited about them til next year. I think you should be able to reasonably expect to see blooms from anything planted up to maybe mid-June and that might be pushing it. I just keep my expectations low the first year.

thanks beaker, all useful info and clear. I guess Mother Nature is going to make a patient gardener out of me one way or another...

Dreary weather time is online shopping time, I say.

Neal,

It was slow for me to get my order confirmation this year from Ednie. I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of emailing Jeffrey, the owner of Wooden Shoe, and mentioned that I had recommended the company, and hoped there was not a problem. I suggest you contact Jeffrey direct at info@ednieflowerbulb.com

What I asked Jeffrey was that I had recommended the company, and that my confirmation was slow this year, and I had heard others were also, and was wondering if there was any problems.

I think it would be a good idea for you to call him actually. He is a very nice person to deal with.

I can't believe one persons recommendation on Daves Garden would overwhelm a company. I sure don't want them to be overwhelmed and not get out my orders, LOL.

Please let me know how this turns out. If there is a problem, I would certainly want to quit recommending them.

Thanks,
Polly

This message was edited Mar 31, 2006 9:10 PM

Thank you Polly, that was so thoughtful of you =)

vossner, I understand your concern, as you'll be getting hot weather sooner. I've planted them as late as mid May and still saw blooms that summer.

beaker, some of the Wooden Shoe bulbs we're getting are exhibition size-1 or 2 varieties (huge grin).

Thanks all! Neal

I have planted bulbs in June/July here in zone 6. They bloomed fine the same season. However I disagree with above that bulbs have to be 18 cm or above to bloom well.

I have found lily's like most plants the first year put out a couple of blooms and as the years go on get bigger and better.

You don't have to spend and arm and a leg on a 20 cm bulb, to get beautiful flowers. I can buy 2-3 times as much 12 cm bulbs and get flowers especially asiatics which multiply fast. I do prefer minimum 14-16 cm.

Vossner-lily's generally bloom around 60 days from being planted. There is a chart on the net that gives a good estimate if you are looking at a specific variety.

I would also like to say Ednie has wonderful bulbs. Some of them are 1/3 of the price of some lily sellers.

Puddles

Puddles, I didn't say that bulbs need to be 18 cm to bloom well. What I said was, the larger the bulb, the more blooms.

Neal, how exciting. I've never planted exhibition size. Too cheap. That will be something to look forward to. How many bulbs; 3 or 5? That will make quite a display. That gives me some incentive to get out and working on the new garden bright and early tomoroow morning.

Hey Puddles! If you happen to find it, I'd sure like to see that chart you're referring to. You really ought to visit more often. :)

Voss ~ not to worry, you'll get a show this year. Maybe not an extravaganza but it will only get better each year.

Last fall, I reworked my 10 year old lily bed where I put my first Stargazers. I was surprised to find that my 2 oldest bulbs (and best bloomers) were much smaller than I thought they might be. Barely the size of a tennis ball. Go figure..... I got one of Buggycrazy's monster bulbs last Fall which was about 7 inches in diameter ~ can hardly wait to see what that thing produces!

beaker, that's 5 bulbs each of 5 varieties we're waiting for. I have a nice blank slate waiting for most of them-can't wait!

Moby, is'nt it strange how sometimes the bulb sizes will suprise you? I divided a couple of clumps of Asiatics last year and 1 clump of pink ones had tennis ball to baseball size bulbs, while the other clump of much taller, larger bloomed orange ones had bulbs the size of golf balls. I could'nt believe the growth that came out of those.

I am so very excited. it looks from the discussion here that I have at least 1 month if not more to plant these babies. Like you, Neal, the real estate has already been set aside for these bulbs.

Vossner, a word of caution on late planting of lilies - they need cool soil to root well. I have had the experience of planting in April and May and got a short, stunted plant that dried up in the heat of summer. Surprisingly, some of those came back the NEXT year, but did not bloom or even grow so well that first year. Those were lily bulbs I got from an end-of-season sale at Brent and Becky.

If you're going to plant lily bulbs this spring, I would plant them NOW or before mid-April. Not trying to rain on your parade, but I want to be realistic about it and while June or July might work in northern states, it won't work well here. Though you and I have somewhat different winters, we both have hot Texas summers in common!

Good luck!

Steve

thanks, steve.

One thing I do with newly bought blubs. Soak soak soak before planting. 10% chlorox or even better, 20% for at least 30 mins or longer. Then rinse. You do not want to be introducing the dread lily beetle into your area.

I also just let them bloom to see that they are true and then snip off all the other buds so they don't bwaste their enery glooming. That is how I found the Triumphator I bought from -gulp - costco was a seedling not the real thing. Got rid of it. No space in my garden for look something likes.
inanda

I just planted this one. Maywood

And this one
Socrates

And this one. Purple King

Oh and Many more! Such as Velasquez

All gorgeous! And some I'm not familiar with. Where did you get them?

same question from moi.

Except for Purple King, I haven't seen those either. Very nice.

this certainly belongs in Confessions:

I was out and about today. As I am ready to enter my car I notice an Easter lily sitting in a pot by the curb. I took it! I'm gonna plant it and see what happens. Don't know who on earth would just leave it sitting out. I am hoping they wanted to discard it and were simply too lazy to throw in the trash (to my good fortune).

I understand Moby has a collection of lilies she's rescued and all doing nicely in her garden. I think she was the one who said one of these flowered again in the garden one year.

Oh my, is that something I should go to confession for?? Then I have committed many sins! LOL Yes, I have rescued many a pot from the curb, trash can, etc..

No Moby, it makes you the Mother Theresa of discarded lilies, lol!

Well I think pots set at the curb are meant to be pilfered. I put all my unwanted stuff out there and it magically disappears. Sometimes I hear wheels screeching and I catch a glimpse but mostly its a quiet event. At least I put a "free" sign on them so people know for sure.

I agree, and I do the same thing! It's very quiet when the plants disappear but they always seem to find new homes.

Last Spring, I found a pot with tulip foliage and there was a petal of the most luscious red.....it just had to come home with me.

The lily I pictured are new Dutch varieties obtained from England. (I have an import permit.) I am most excited to get them!

Thanks for posting the pretty pics! I have a question, as a newbie what do you plant around or in front of the tall lilies? Do you stalk them? We have been having a lot of wind and I was wondering if that was ever a problem? I cannot wait to see mine bloom this year. A new direction for my garden perhaps.
Teresa

Moby, aka M. Theresa of discard plants, do you plant them right away, inground?

Yep!