Three dwarf oriental lilies that I thought went missing last year have made an appearance. They are coming up in the hole I dug looking for them. They must have moved on down to China.
Miss Burma
Shocked and Amazed!
Miss Rio
and Roldolfa.
I suppose it's too much to hope for the orientals that went missing 2 years ago (LOL).
very pretty! I have a few that didn't show their first year either.....they aren't anywhere near that far along though....
Isn't it great how lilies can hide underground a year then show up! My dwarf Mona Lisas appear to be my last lilies to make a showing. Weird, because they bloom before the other orientals.
Those are just catalog pictures. Right now they are just sticking up out of the ground about an inch. I dug and dug looking for them because I decided to move them to a more sheltered location and could not find them. Came right up where I had been digging. I guess they can stay there.
It's really wierd to me how lilies can do that. I planted 3 'Shocking' Orienpets in spring of '04. They all 3 had a couple of blooms and were about 3' tall, pretty much what you expect for first year lilies. Last year only a few leaves from a bulblet showed up, so since the rest of the lilies in that bed were fine, I thought perhaps hardiness was a factor. This year 3 big stalks are arising from the spot. I just can't imagine what prevented them from growing last year. Easy to imagine getting one with the trowel, but not all 3, especially since I was careful knowing they were there. Hmmm.....another mystery of gardening!
Ours is not to reason why.....
What I don't like about it is I usually will start digging in an area where I don't think there is life. It's just a good thing I had other projects going this spring otherwise those bulbs probably would have been history by now.
It is kind of neat how the bulbs pull themselves down. When I basically surface plant lily seed, after 2 years of growth I regularly find the bulbs at the bottom of the pot.
Rick
Well these guys must have sprouted feet with running shoes. They had only been planted about a month when I changed my mind about where I wanted them.
One of the things I've learned by this is that Orientals can do OK out in the general garden area without any special protection. After I lost all my orientals one year, I've been sticking to planting them near a heated foundation. It does give credence to the idea that orientals need to be planted early enough to settle in and put roots down. Hence, fall planting of orientals is a risky proposition in the colder zones.
The weird thing with these 'Shocking' lilies is that last year I did'nt dig there, waiting for them to sprout. Last fall I worked the earth there and planted more lilies, so the new Asiatics are practically on top of Shockings. How I did'nt dig them up I can't imagine.