with this lily bulb. I planted it in fall of '04, it didn't bloom last year (the bulb was kind of small) but did send up a bloom stalk. I was cleaning up leaves in the perennial bed Sunday and came across this, looks like the bulb exploded. I also don't know why it's right on top of the ground, I know I planted all of my lilies 6"-8" deep!
Thanks,
Vicki
Sometimes shallowly planted lily bulbs can be brought to the surface by heaving and thawing, but this looks more like rodents (squirrels ? ) digging up your bulb. Lots of good shots from the remaining, bulbs, though. !!
Thanks, that was quick :-) So did that 1 bulb make all those babies??? I only had 1 bulb there, are all of those little stems new plants/bulbs, if so, do I need to dig up the whole mass and separate them?
I haven't seen any squirrels but there are quite a few tunnels thru that border and the other day, I thought I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye but wasn't quick enough to see what it was. The holes in the ground are about the size of a half dollar.
Could also be voles or other types of mice.
A lily bulb will usually create quite a number of offsets by the stem roots
The stem has roots growing out of it, and small miniature bulbs appear there just at or below soil surface. In spring, these minature bulblets are quick to put out small leaves. This is probably what you are seeing.
Here are some pictures.
First a flower stem which has died back. At the base of the lily stem you can see a lot of small leaves. These are from the bulblets (miniature bulbs)
Then here is a picture of a flower stem cut off. You can see the bulblets at the base of the lily stem. These are literally at the soil surface
While I apologize for the poor picture, this dirty flower stem has the bulblets still attached. They can be seperated and be planted.
Here is a final picture of the mature lilies (purple tops) with the young stems (1-2 year old babies turning into mature lilies by them selves) and some fresh leaves which will grow into flower stems in another year or two
Especially asiatic lilies mutiply very prolifically this way.
Here is a harvest from about 15 mature lily bulbs. See how many babies you can get...
Some of the baby bulblets are pretty small. They will grow gradually. Once they are the size of a walnut they can flower. These will need 1-2 years before they can flower.
If you plant in full sun, leave undistubed and fertilize regularily, it will go faster.
Of course.. some of the bulblets can quickly grow to a huge size.....
(ok, this is a trick photo.. this one was from buggycrazy...!!)
-- Kenneth
KD, are you saying that if a lily is not planted in full sun, the plant will not readily multiply? Do the bulblets have a higher sun requirement?
LOL, I've seen pics of buggycrazy's bulbs before, they're HUGE!
Thanks for all the great info and pics, I'll just leave them there and let them grow this year. I noticed that the Asiatics multiply much faster than the Orientals because I'm seeing a lot of the leaves from the bulblets around the Asiatics and that's what the bulb in my pic is.
All of mine are in either mixed perennial borders or daylily beds, do I need to use a specific bulb fertilizer on them or just the general fertilizer that I use on the other plants?
You are right about asiatic lilies multiplying faster than oriental lily bulbs. In fact, they will easily create 4-6 new offsets per stem. Orientals may make 1 offset every year or every 2nd year, if you are lucky.
Use regular annual plant fertilizer on lilies, such as 5-10-10, 10-10-10, 10-20-20, etc. You can also use organic annual plant fertilizers, such as espoma flowertone. If you water with peters 20-20-20 or miracle grow 15-30-15 then that is fine, too.
Lilies will multiply under most circumstances. In northern zones, full sun is best for lilies to avoid extensive stretching and to make sure the bulb generates enough energy to replentish the bulb every year. However, even in partial shade it will do ok. If you plant in heavy shade, the bulb will gradually decline.
This message was edited Mar 18, 2006 6:57 PM
Thanks for the info on the fertilizers.
I was out looking again today and was amazed at the number of small shoots coming from some of the Asiatics after just 1 year. Will I need to divide/separate them occasionally to prevent overcrowding or will they clump without any problems?
I have left lilies untouched for years and they create large groups. Usually dividing asiatics after 3 years is required (5-6 years for orientals).
However, if you want to keep maximum number of the small babies, then dig around the stem and lift the smaller bulbs. Then replant them next spring.
Here are my first lilies poking through the soil (at the foundation where the sun keeps the soil fairly warm). The picture was taken today.
This picture is taken around a place where I usually have tiger lilies growing. The bulbils fall to the ground. These are the baby sprouts.
