Lily problem should I complain

This fall I planted twenty lily bulbs from a reputible dealer. So far only 6 have come up. I have seen no sign of digging or tunneling. Do I have a valid complaint? I am in zone 8 and I have asiatics, black beauty , and formosa up and doing well. The ones that are not up are African Queen, Pink perfection and Regal. Should I wait a while longer or write to the company?

Beth

My trumpet lilies are usually the last to break ground here. After reading your post I went out to check the status in my gardens (not a good idea to wear slippers out in the rain!). So far my no show trumpets are African Queen, Amethyst Temple, Moonlight strain and several others. Some of my seed started trumpets are up. Maybe 50-60% of my other lily types are up. I remember when I planted my Amethyst Temples in the fall and come spring I swore I must have lost them. But lo and behold they eventually showed up!

Beth,

I am in a climate similar to yours and so far some of mine have broken ground, some haven't. Lots of the trumpets and Orienpets are either just breaking surface or haven't yet. It is still early and I wouldn't contact them just yet with a complaint. If you see no activity in another two to three weeks I'd be more worried.

It is always difficult to judge timing the first season after planting. At times, lilies can take forever to come up. Next year, they should have settled in to their new cycle and will probably come up quicker.

Thanks for the replies. I have not grown a lot of lilies and went a little overboard on my orders last fall. I am so ready for spring that I am trying to pull growth up by sheer willpower.

Beth

I was standing looking intently at my side garden (where all the lillies are) and my DH called to me "Trying to stare them out of the ground?"

oh, yeah.

Iris 'Superstition' (new for me) has been showing color for a week. I would physically unfurl the bloom if I didn't know that it would be destroyed.

The asiatics always show up first for me. The trumpets next and then orientals and species. It sorta makes sense, when I was looking at the Lily Garden catalog and the bloom times for the different bulbs that was the general order. Asiatics tended to put out flowers first with orientals flowering at the end of the season. But we also have a long season here so that may be a reason too. If you have a short growing season the bulbs may just try to grow and bloom at a faster rate.
I'm jealous of all the posts from the West Coast with flowers already!

Besides the fact you probably need to give it more time, I'm of the opinion that once a healthy bulb comes into my possession, the seller is off the hook. There are so many variables that could cause a bulb to not show up. Maybe it was too warm when planted. They need cool ground in order to set roots. Or if winter started in too soon, maybe they didn't have time to set roots. Too much rain, too little rain. Or, it could have been a critter. I lost some orientals last summer; just totally disappeared, and there was no indication of tunneling. The only reason I found out so soon was I decided to move them shortly after planting. The only legitimate complaint you could make at this time, is if the bulbs turn out to be not true to name.