...and while we tap our feet waiting for spring...

....let's talk lily plans for '08! Many of us have been participating in co ops, scouring catalogs and websites, or even hybridizing and growing brand new babies from seed. What are your plans for your new lilies? Are you adding to your collection, designing a cottage garden, delighting your nose, planning for cut flowers??? YES is my answer, LOL!

What other plants will you combine with them? What color combinations do you have in mind? Will you grow annuals around their ankles to shade the soil? Or perhaps some pungent herb to discourage rodents? Will you be digging new beds for them, or adding them to existing gardens? I'd love to see pics of where they're going!

And words of wisdom you have to share are welcomed! Many of the co op participants we've enabled mercilessly are new to lilies, and will appreciate guidance :-)

Thanks!
Neal

I for one, am so delighted that lilies like Richmond TX. I haven't been the best record-keeper, primarily because I bought these as experiments, but for 2 years now most have come back, except asiatics. And that may be a hit or miss situation, I haven't completely given up on asiatics.

Anyhow, I have marked this thread. I have a lot of first leaves already showing up from previous years' plantings. yipee.

I shame-facedly must admit I've never planted a lily bulb. I have a few lilies, but they were bought as potted plants or given to me as divisions. Gimme some tips guys. Just the basics please?

I found my list of what I ordered. The paler ones, Salmon Pride and Pandora, will go here. It's sort of a pastel bed of perennials and annuals that already has Casa Blanca lilies in it. Last year was the first year for this bed.

Uh-oh! Am I supposed to put annuals around the ankles? Good thing I've wintersowed some annuals.

The Dynamite bulbs will go here. It's a brand new bed last fall with nothing in it but a couple of dwarf conifers, three roses, a pear tree I'd love to get rid of, and some fall-planted bulbs. It's supposed to be red, yellow, and blue. We'll see.

Most of mine go in containers of one kind or another. We're in the woods and always have many (adopted) dogs, so most of our plants need to be moveable and un-DigUpAble.
But I adore flowers, as does mother-in-law next door and our hummers and butterflies, so I try for the most bang i can possibly have for my bucks (and space). Lilies and cannas seem to do the trick. I'll post pictures soon. I be planting my new lilies by themselves, with pansies, with mums, with dutch bulbs (tulips/daffs, etc), with salvias,with cherry tomatoes, with...
Will be spring soon - can't wait
jo

Nery, I'm surprised Asiatics don't return well for you. I guess the LAs, OTs, and trumpets are best in your area. Have you been growing any Orientals?

La, you got mostly Asiatics and LAs didn't you? Those are the easiest. Given good drainage and decent soil, many lilies are quite permanent and easy care. Do you have a spot chosen for them?

Lala- if I can grow lilies, anybody can! LOL
jo

The Asiatic Giraffe lilies will go in the hotbed, containing reds, oranges, and yellows. This is a picture in its second year. Maybe this year it will really take off. I planted some Oriental lilies, Arabian Red, I think, in this bed last fall.

Glad GeorgiaJo mentioned pansies and salvia. I had those in mind too.

I do have a spot! (I think, LOL)

When I can I plant them? Do I need to wait until after my last frost date? And the other most basic of all questions....how deeply do I plant them?

McGlory, you've got a wonderful nearly blank slate to work with! Lilies like their roots cool and shaded; some prefer to achieve this with mulch, but chronic overcrowders such as myself tend to plant shorter plants over them.

Jo, I suppose you can leave your lilies outdoors in pots through winter in your zone. That will be really handy to be able to move them out of sight when they're done blooming.

Plant them as soon as possible when you get them. I keep them in the fridg till I get them in the ground to keep them from sprouting (just make sure no fruit is in there with them). They like to be planted deep; I go about 8" for Asiatics and LAs and 10-12" for OTs, Orientals, and Trumpets- any tall one. Lilies develop anchoring roots on the stem above the bulb, so the taller ones really benefit from the deep planting.

Oh, and remember good drainage is a biggie with lilies. They are particularly susceptible to rot if drainage isn't perfect.

Uh-oh. I bet I didn't plant those Orientals deep enough last spring. :-( 10"? Really? I probably only went about 8" like a tulip.

Everything I have is a blank slate. LOL!

Let's see the rest of you. I'm not going to be the only one showing my garden - the poor things.

neal, i'm waiting to hear from nery as well. i am surprised too about the asiatics.

the main thing i am doing with lilies is just enjoying them. almost no one has them here. seeing these large colorful flowers is such a treat.

i am waiting on the lilies i planted last year to come up. so i am worried right now. some that i planted a month ago are up. but not the ones i put in the ground last year.

I am with Neal on the Asiatics - I would think they would do the best in your area, Nery. But, more power to you if you've found other varfieties have done well for you!!! I know Orientals will grow here but they tend to not be as robust or look as nice as all of the others. I just love OT's.

Look - lilium sprouts!!! I planted these this past fall in a new bed. Last year's will come up later I hope as they're back on their regular clock.

I'm just hoping I can squeeze them into existing beds! I plan to plant the mono lisa's
and some of the orientals out in a new bed I made last year by the roadside. Its a little
shadier than much of my property but does get good sun. It is near my walnut trees.
Anyone know if lilies are OK near walnuts????

And the rest will go into a bunch of different beds to sprinkle in some additional color.

Tam

Mine aren't up and I'm in the same zone, mamajack, more or less.

10 inches! Oh my gosh! I guess I shouldn't have ordered on 3 diff. co-ops. I got so excited and lilies are my favorite flower, but I had no idea I needed to go 10 inches. And I have thick, GA red clay! What have I gotten myself into? (Can you hear the panic in my voice?) I was hoping to work them in amongst other plantings in my beds and maybe add one more bed dedicated to lilies. I don't think I've ever worked a bed all the way to 10 inches. And a lot of times I cheat and work it down about 6-7 and then just build up. (Maybe that's why I'm not what you would actually call an accomplished gardener.)

Well my I just got my used copy of Virginia Howie's "Let's Grow Lilies" book in the mail today. Guess that's my reading material for tonight.

You can build up to get the inches with lasagna beds, so that's still ten inches.

I got a big old auger to plant my lilies. Even my husband was impressed. I believe he was holding it and saying ooohhhh, steel, when I walked into the kitchen. Now I'm just waiting for the drill - and for the melting of the permafrost. Another 18 inches of snow today.... sigh....

3gardeners, i have clay soil. they only go 4-5 in. here. what do you say about that steve? and thank you for putting my mind at ease on why my lilies aren't up yet.

did i mention that i have a bed already made for all of these bulbs...and the mums. already made. work's done.

3gardeners, I have rock and clay, mostly rock it seems. I dig up areas after a good soaking rain and plant a few lilies. I probably should have planted them deeper, but they still come up and bloom! They'll be fine, lilies are very forgiving.

Oh my, I did not realize I had to have a plan for all of these! LOL! I have no idea! They will go into existing perennial beds,etc. I plan to put many in pots so I can change them out during the season until I know who blooms when and what the actual colors look like.

My understanding about lily depth is that it's somewhat dependent on cold. So, if you're in Canada, you'd better be planting them a foot down, but it's not as necessary in TX. I plant mine about 6-8" deep, the larger ones deeper. Course, I don't get the heat you Southerners do, so maybe deeper would be better for you for the opposite reason-to keep the bulb cool? And also, remember that lilies do have the ability to move themselves deeper with their contractile roots...

I'm just barely going to make it with the new beds I'm building with DH right now before the new residents arrive. That's not to say I won't still change my mind about where to plant them three more times anyway...Most of the ones I already have are in pots and I hope they've wintered over well.

Lala_Jane ~ Here is great info about lilies. http://www.lilies.org/planting.html Click on any of the sub-headers for more.

McGlory ~ I hope you've planned for some paths through those big garden beds. It's too easy for your foot to find tender lily shoots in the spring. :( Paths are something that something I need to work on this year.

This message was edited Feb 27, 2008 12:23 AM

My lilies are going where Neal took his out of my garden when he moved and I moved in!!
George

3gardeners, I believe its typically recommended to plant a little shallower in heavier clay soils. As mentioned above, lilies are very forgiving, and the bulbs do position themselves where they want to be eventually. You can also compensate by mulching deeply, which they like anyway.

Hopefully yours will be fine, Mamajack. I have to admit I do amend my soil alot to get rid of any clay and to get it as "loamy" as possible. I tend to plant mine 6 inches deep or more for the big bulbs. Fortunately, where I am now (NW of Ft Worth a few miles) I have found little clay soil around the house and it seems to have a higher sand content and is "reddish"....the soil at my old place in N. Central FTW was black and solid clay and I would raise my beds and add lots of stuff to avoid drainage issues. Oh well, experimenting is half the fun. I tend to think my lilies will be OK as absolutelty everything else appears to be returning from las year (daffs & hyacinths, etc). Hopefully yours will too, and be sure to give us reports! Asiatics in particular seem to be really tough and put up with lots of variables in climate and conditions, the biggest issue being waterlogged soil. I even have lots of tulips leaves coming up from last year and some of them appear large and to not have "split" - will be cool as heck if I get a couple of flowers out of it with those as tulips are typically not perennial here.

Hi Steve ~ that sprout looks awfully 'hairy' for being so short. Any signs of fasciation?

I am almost plum out of room and with my house going up for-sale what does the magic 8 ball have to say about the future of my lily addiction this year: "Ask again later"
Hmmmm darn magic eight ball.


Keep those pictures coming :*)

Moby, it will be several years before I have to worry about paths. Remember how it looks with the "here a plant, there a plant" scheme going on? LOL

I have big new beds sparsely planted. Someday I will have the crowding problem, but in the meantime I don't have the $$$ to fill them completely full in one shot. :-) But wouldn't it be nice...

You all have made me feel better about only 8" down. I do build the beds up.

How much are these lily augers?

Laura & Neal are going to come to NY in May & plant mine in the new bed they will be digging me, up by the pines, but out enough to get sun, I can dream, Right?:)Anita

intercessor, we got one that goes on the drill, and I believe Handsome Man paid $15-$25, something like that. There were less expensive ones, but he liked the steel better on that one. Whatever that means.
:-)

Check this out. Pretty cheap and useless in midwest clay but the irritating commercial guy is energetic for a dull winter morning LOL.

http://www.buytheauger.com/?cid=467204

And not nearly wide enough for Buggy bulbs!

This message was edited Feb 27, 2008 9:35 AM

I dug up an orienpet bulb last fall because it was too tall for the location. A bulb I Know I planted 6 inches deep was only 1 inch below the soil surface. I dug up 3 large bulbs but had only planted 1 so I got all the increase and they were all 1 inch below the surface of the soil and no mulch. I was also pulling some weeds in another bed and found a Black Beauty sitting at the surface of the soil under about an inch of mulch. I am sure this is an increase, but with the size of the bulb I would have assumed it would be much deeper in the soil.

I said all this to agree that if lilies have drainage, they are very forgiving.

I've already posted this pic elsewhere, but here it is again, the orienpet I dug last fall. That is a 10 inch tiller tine

You could about play football with that one! Is this the one that was only an inch down?

Lets see....the magic 8 ball says...lots more space for gardens at the new digs, and perfectly drained, black loamy soil.....and the unleashing of a lily fiend, LOL!

Anita, you know how they have those progressive dinners where you go to each persons house for the next course? If we could just do a traveling garden caravan kind of like that, all hands planting each others lilies with each stop! Of course stopping at every nursery along the way. Ah yes, we can dream, LOL. Your lilies will show beautifully there; I love the way the blooms are set off by a green background. I've got a lot of conifers in this yard that will be serving the same function.

I'm particularly excited about my "Sky Garden" where several of these babies are going. It's all blue, white, and yellow. All the yellow and white Asiatics and LAs I'm expecting are going there, as well as Regale album, Conca d'Or, Veranda, Hacienda, Casa Blanca, Aubade, Golden Splendour, and possibly Time Out if it doesn't have red spots (I can't recall). There is a pic somewhere on here (I think posted by magnolialover?) of all these varying heights of white and yellow OTs among shorter perennials that I've been obsessed with ever since! That is exactly the "look" I'm going for here.

On the other side of the house I'm using lots of pastels against the dark backdrop of conifers and graduating to stronger colors as the garden extends into the brighter, sunnier area. This is where the high holy Japanese hybrids will go, and my long coveted L.langkonense hybrids, Ariadne, Eurydice, Karen North, and Rosepoint Lace. All the pink, peach, coral, and salmon colors will be strewn through that area, including the OTs from Faraway (Socrates, Gluhwein, and Eudoxia) I'm so excited about.

In this pic I'm standing in the area where the pastels will go, looking toward where the more intense colors come into play. That grouping of conifers is screaming for some color. For spring I've planted 200 daffodils and 100 single late tulips down there.

mamajack - I am SO impressed with the prepared beds! I have never had a plant hole dug before I brought it home. And usually don't even know exactly where it's going.

guardians - I always heard that I wasn't supposed to dig in the wet ground; that it would somehow "damage" the soil. Don't know what that means. Since you're here in GA, I'm going to take advantage of the fact that the rain softens the clay. It was like cement this past summer!

All - I feel better about my miscellaneous bulb depths now. I did start planting them on their sides this year. B&B suggested it so the "cups" don't fill with water. I'll count on them to pick the depth they want.

intercessor - I don't know how you can bear (?) to move. We thought about it for a few minutes, so we could get to a better school district, (Mableton sucks), but one little part of my decision not too, was that I couldn't stand the thought of leaving all my plants/work behind. Now we are considering private schools. Crazy to plan moving around my plants, but it really was just a worrisome thought in the back of my mind, not the pivotal decision maker :)

I don't need paths, I just step in the spots where the plants died.

llilyfan - I saw that photo of yours on another thread - WOW. You're doing something right!

I don't yet know all the differences between Orientals and Asiatics, but I will meticulously label this year and learn by trial and error. (Hopefully not too much error.) I'm really hoping for at leat one fasciated lily. (Did I say that right?) Now that I know it doesn't harm the bulb, and that it will most likely return the next year with it's regular form, I can wish for it. I think it is so fabulous looking! A ready-made bouquet!