Lily Planting Depth

It was six weeks ago that I finished this flower bed and planted L. Henryi in about six locations. I planted the bulbs 7 to 8 inches deep. The hole you see was dug 16 inches deep and filled with commercial, bagged flower and vegetable soil. Now I have revised my plans for this spot. I would like to raise the bed you see by 12 inches and add a ground-level bed surrounding it. This means that the effective planting depth of the lily bulbs will increase to about 17 to 18 inches. Of course, I could dig them up and position them closer to the surface, but the new bed level may not be completed until late winter, and they may have established substantial roots by that time. What should I do: leave them deep for one season or reposition them higher as soon as possible?

I'll wait and watch for an answer along with you.

Does your ground freeze at all through the winter?

It is an especially cold winter this year, as you must know. The ground freezes on top, as has happened right now, to a depth of 2 inches. It is very unusual for the freeze to go deeper than that, but it may do so this year.

It's hard for me to say, since I am really not experienced in your zone, but this year because your ground is so cold, I don't think it will matter much if you wait until late winter to dig the bulbs and reposition them. That is, compared to now. Any bulb root growth would have been done when the ground was warmer in the fall.

I would reposition them.

Thanks for this advice. I tend to agree with you. However, do you have any experience with lily bulbs that are planted as deep as 18 inches? Would that be fatal for them?

I have only planted them as deep as 12 inches. The result was the sprout coming up much later, and probably a bit less vigorous.

When I was grounds manager for an condo complex, the manager (my boss) "forced" us to plant tulips 18 inches deep. They were fine, but we also retrieved them every spring and planted new bulbs every fall, so it's really not a test.