Are your lilies sprouting?

Leftwood -- that's very good advice....for next year. It was a tricky fall/winter, though, as I recall, with a bizarre very late heat wave that took us all by surprise. I had just put in a lot of new bulbs, and since I put chicken wire over the mulch (rather than under; so I can remove the wire now before things start poking through) it was hard to undo it all when the warm weather came. Anyway, I was too lazy. The sprouts I've got are only in my warmest spot, and as I look out the window right now I see a couple more there, so out I go to bury them...

Hope Spring comes soon for us all, and stays!

False alarm this time. Those were allium sprouts.

The few I have are doing very well with plenty of growth. Woooo! Hooooo!

Wicker, I believe you also received a good blanket of snow before the soil cooled sufficiently. I know Iowa and Wisconsin did. That's another contributing factor to early growth.

I'm sure you're right. Seem sooo many blankets ago....

Allright Diann, way to go! It rained here but cooled off from yesterday thankfully. Pretty soon you'll see these! LOL

Oh Steve, I don't know if I can take it!!! First peony blooms and now lily noses!! What did we do before there was computers and the ability to post pictures from friends in warmer zones? LOL Keep the pictures coming!! Those are some nice looking lilies!!!

Diann

That is why straight jackets were invented. eom

Who's the straight jacket for?? :) LOL

"What did we do before there was computers and the ability to post pictures from friends in warmer zones?" A higher incidence of nuttiness :*)

Hmmmmmm, I thought that was what you were talking about. :) LOL Oh well, I'm among friends. :)

And there was the original round robins.

a bunch of my asiatics that i planted about a month ago are sprouting. even some from bleeks coop that i got planted last month are sprouting. kinda hard to see scale in this picture, but this sprout is about 6-8 inches tall!

tracie

Yes we are all friends LOL. And we'll be all dried and burnt up while you are at your peak!

Nah, You won't be burnt up. You guys will be having something tropical blooming down there that we could only have in the house and since I have a tendency to kill house plants.. Well, let's just say that it will be better off with you. :) LOL

I made the mistake of peaking in the hibiscus forum yesterday, and then I started to look up hibiscus sellers. Ahhhh so beautiful...
http://www.hiddenvalleynaturearts.com/acatalog/bontempsinfo.html

not to rub salt in the wound, but here is one that my daughter just had to have!

tracie

Aren't they just gorgeous?! We may not get to have those exotics colors here in our climes but we can still have those hardy, dinner plate sized ones ~

Do those grow well for you Moby?

Nothing to it! No special requirements, they're late to start growing but give a big display in late summer until frost. Bachman's has them listed as hardy to z4, and possibly to z3.
http://www.flemingsflowerfields.com/flowers.htm
http://www.soonerplantfarm.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/specials.specDetail/recID/30/index.htm

The last one is Lord Baltimore and this is Southern Belle

Wow,Now that is either a tiny hand or a big flower! Now I recall comments in Plantfiles about people complaining that they don't leaf out until late spring. Something I can deal with for such a nice display in late summer :*)

This message was edited Apr 2, 2008 1:51 PM

LOL Nope, no tiny hands here, they measure 7" (handy to know for quick measurements around the garden). Those blooms are 11 inches.

I know that the hibiscus are the first thing I see people coming into the garden center to replace, in early May, when pretty much everything is up. Usually you see new growth by Memorial Day, I'd even say the first week of June.

When I cut mine back in the fall, I leave about a foot of stalk, to remind me where the heck it was last year. It is a beautiful display and very easy to grow. Seems to increase easily each year and create a more exquisite display each year thereafter.

I think this is 'Plum Crazy'

I might also add that I give these tips to customers and tell them to hold on buying until that time, because most certainly, theirs has not likely died. It's just a late one to come back, but once it starts, it catches up to everything else is no time. Before long, you'll have buds and then the beauty begins.

How big do hardy hibs get?

Ooo, it's that luscious! They get about 4 ft. tall, depending on the variety.

Depending on what you get, I'd say anywhere from two to five or six feet tall. I have one called 'Luna Swirl' that is a cute little shorty.

So do they grow from old growth or are they more like peonies?

lol magnolia I leave a foot of stalk too! I don't want to dig into it when I am enthusiastically planting my spring bulbs! Mine came as a mix and it didn't bloom it's first year so I hope to see what color it is this year.

Based on what I see, they are root growers, like so many perennials . So the more your root system grows, the more growth you'll have above ground. So maybe I'd say they are more like peonies? You don't need to worry about when to chop dead stalks or anything like that with hardy hibiscus. Does that answer the question? Maybe I'm not too horticulture-esque when it comes to my answers. Lol.

Now I am confused. If you didn't cut back in the fall would the new growth come from the ground or the old branches/stems? Peonies die back to the ground.

Not really sure here but I think if you live in a cold zone like mine it dies completely back. The stalk is definitely dead. Warmer zones perhaps not all the way back?

Ok, I just re-read magnolia's comments. The part about leaving a foot above ground confused me :*) It is just one of those weeks. So in the fall mow it down.

Figuratively, yes ~ might be a bit tough on the mower. >:)
Sorry about my post earlier ~ I meant to say 4 ft. ~ give or take. I think most are 3 - 5 ft. but there are some that are little shorties, such as Crown Jewels which is 2.5 ft..

Normally I leave fall clean up of my hibiscuses until spring. ;) That way I know where they are when I cut dead stalks off. The only think I don't like about them is that the Japanese Beetles really love them.

I have Lord Baltimore and Blue River II (a huge white one). They really are just gorgeous and they will bloom their little hearts our for you. :)

Diann

Oh yeah, the Japanese Beetles do love them. See the things I choose to forget over the winter? Lol.

It's all about remembering where they were...and not digging them up to plant some new plant find in its place, before you have remembered you ever had that hibiscus.

Love your "Plum Crazy", magnolia. I have many hardy Hibiscus. They do well in the heat and the cold. As Moby stated, they are late to come out of dormancy, true, and my first ones are JUST now sending sprouts up. The tropical hibiscus will not overwinter here, either, so unless you want to bring them indide they're annuals here as well. Sounds like we handle them the same way as I leave the old stalk sticking out of the ground almost a foot as well.

My hardy hibiscus have the most increadibly strong and deep root systems I have ever seen among plants. Had to pull one out once and it was like uprooting a tree.

Ticker, I would like to see your "Blue River". I have seen L.B. Please post pictures when yours blooms!

Look. lilium buds!

i have several of the hot pink hardy hibiscus. they are just now starting to come up, the stalks are about 8 inches tall. they will get pretty big within a couple of months.

tracie