Asiatic and Oriental Lilies

Where is a good place to buy bulbs for these online? My Mother has several in her gardens and would like to order some more. I plan to put some in my gardens as well. They are so beautiful!


Lin

Hi Lin ~ You've come to the right place for that info!

This may not be the best time to buy as many growers may be done with Spring shipping or have limited supply. But you might find some great deals too. Here are some of our favorites ~

Lily Garden http://www.thelilygarden.com/index.html
Lily Nook http://www.lilynook.mb.ca/
B&D http://www.snowcreekdaylilies.com/lily-bulbs-2006.html

Especially in your heat, you don't want to be planting lilies now. Lilies need cool soil to set roots. You could pick up potted lilies at a nursery. Most sell the potted ones about 5.99 and no shipping.

It's never too early to start planning for next year. I think most of the fall online catalogs will be available by late June. The Lily Nook's catalog is for both Spring and Fall, but you can only order Fall now. If you order from a Canadian grower, you need to spend at least a 100.00 to break even on the shipping and health certificate. At least, that's been my experience.

yikes, i hope I didn't just throw money down the drain. I bought lily Muscadet at B&B's50% off sale. just planted them a few minutes ago. they had about 1" sprouted. Somebody told me it was OK and of course I chose to believe them because I couldn't resist the sale.

I wouldn't sweat it, Nery ~ I'd bet Steve will tell you to pot them up and keep them in a cool place. :)

i planted inground, in sunny bed, but gets protection from oak tree branches

I'd be interested to know if it comes up this year. If it doesn't, it will next year, so it's not money down the drain. Is it real hot down there yet? You might be OK.

I've been hitting all the sales. Almost too cheap to resist. I just ordered 8 more Dahlias from Swan Island and let's not even talk about Bluestone. Major damage there.

There are some asiatics included in the Brent and Becky's bulb coop Jody is doing. See the Coop forum for more info.

Thank you all for the information. I am new at growing the Asiatic and Oriental lilies. All I have right now are Easter lilies that I got on sale after Easter two years ago. I love their blooms! So I know I will enjoy many other colored blooms.

My Mom has several Asiatic lilies that are just beautiful! She has some pretty pink ones in bloom right now. Her lilies have really inspired me to have some in my own gardens.

It is very hot here in our area now and may get over 90 deg. today. I have a few lily bulbs my Mother gave me but I haven't planted them. They are packed in wood like shavings. Will they be okay till later? I don't really want to plant them right now in this heat.

Wood shavings are common for shipping bulbs but not the best for storing them in. Keep them in the fridge (but no fruit in there!) until someone can tell you how to best handle them.

It's not likely to cool off anytime soon!

OMG!!! I went to the Lily Garden website and looked at all their Asiatic and Oriental lilies. What a beautiful site to see. I've started my long list! Too bad it's too late to plant them now or I would order now.

Not to worry ~ ordering time is only a couple months away. ;)

Actually, I think I read that the Lily Garden will have their catalogavailable in late June. They never give us a rest, do they?

Dancy, I'm not at all familar with your weather. I'd be inclined to at least pot them up and then keep them somewhere that provides a bit of shade. The person you should really ask is Steve. He grows lotz of lilies.

Beaker our weather here in summer is very very hot and humid. We get temps from 90 deg. to up in the 100's. So if I do order now I would have to put them in pots. Then I guess I could plant them in the gardens in fall?

I've d-mailed Steve and asked him to visit.

Lin, we have the same weather here ~ pretty brutal sometimes. Do you have much shade?

I only have two gardens that get all morning sun and shade during the hottest part of the day. I also have a nice rock garden that begins to get good shade by 2pm. I have recently put in a new hydrangea in a bed that gets good shade and there is room there to plant something else. ? BTW my hydrangea is blue, Endless Summer.

I ordered from B&D because of the posts here and wow they send you huge bulbs bigger than any I've ever ordered before and they really took off I definitely will order from them again.
Kim

Some pink and/or white lilies would look pretty with your hydrangea and you can extend the bloom time with all varieties of lilies.

Moby I was thinking the same thing. ;) I may even extend that bed out a little farther so I can plant several.

Kim I have B&D bookmarked so I will order from them pretty soon.

Thanks Moby, I got your note!!

I agree with bluektodd, B&D is one of my favorites. Huge bulbs and though not cheap, you get a lot of value for your money.

Dancey/vossner,

I'm no expert, but I do have lots and lots of anecdotal experience to offer!

You're best off buying and planting these in our area fall through winter. Like beaker said, they need cool soil for initial rooting and good performance to do well. If you pot them up, keep them in shade and keep them well watered but NOT soggy. I have left Asiatics in pots on my front porch for three years now and they keep coming back - but the Orientals in pots failed.

I ordered from I think B & B or WFF one year - and end of season sale. Planted a bunch of Tom Pouces and Le Reves, most of which had already sprouted. Nearly all grew to about 6" or so that spring and then just "croaked" - dried up and shriveled. No flowers of course. Surprisingly, many of them did return the following year AND produced flowers - both varieties. I have had a bunch of LeReves bloom already for me this spring, but it is an early bloomer for me and usually pops in May or sometimes even late April. Tom Pouce blooms much later - July for me - and came back well 2nd year, just a few plants 3rd year, and this wil be the 4th and I have not seen any yet. LeReve has done consistently well year to year.

Our area is tough for Orientals because they do not like intense summer heat - your better bets are Asiatics, which shrug it off and seem unbothered by it, and come back strong year after year, or the Orienpets, which are very similar to Orientals in size and fragrance, being crosses of them with trumpets. Every OT hybrid I have tried has done well for me. I have tons of Silk Roads blooming now, most of which have been in the ground for 3 years or so, and they're all really getting tall with lots of flowers. Great fragrance too. I do admit I like Muscadets too though, and I had some that flowered two years straight and then an overwatering neighbor must have killed them as the bulbs disappeared the year after that. Trumpets also do well in hot climates, but I admit they are not my favorites as I like a more open flower. It is a good idea to plant lilies in part shade in our area.

Good luck and keep us all updated!

Thanks Steve.

Lin ~ if you really want to feast your eyes, take a look at Lily Nook's library. http://www.lilynook.mb.ca/picture_library.htm

Thanks so much Steve! That great and valuable information you gave us. ;) I jotted it all down in my garden journal. I bet you have some beautiful lilies in your gardens.

Moby I did go take a look. Wow!!! What beauties. Makes it hard to decide on just a few. I better hide the checkbook! LOL

Steve what is the weblink to WFF? I would like to look at what they have.

Lin

Dancy, the Lily Nook is a Canadian website, so please keep in mind, besides a heftier shipping cost, there is also the health certificate which is 15.00. On the other hand, because of the exchange rate, we Americans don't have to pay the full price "as listed". I figured it out one late night. To break even, you have to buy at least 100.00 worth of bulbs.

Beaker, thanks for the info. ;)

Hi Dancey, it is:

http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/

BTW, look at the surprise I found when i got home today - and I thought all of my Muscadets were gone!!! The blush is faded in the 97 F heat, but it still looks pretty.

Thank you Steve. Wow your lily is just beautiful. Looks like it came through todays heat real well. I've got to have some of those Asiatics. ;) I'm picking out places in my gardens where I can plant some. We had 97 or 98 deg. here today too. Sure hot and dry here.

That's a nice surprise, Steve. It was 97° here today also ~ sure is tough on the lily blooms.

dang it! mine were planted last monday. five muscadet which had tiny sprouts. well, I guess if I'm understanding correctly AND if I'm lucky, they will come back and I will see flowers next year.

I guess Mother Nature is determined to make a patient woman out of me, one way or another, sigh......

I just planted some asiatics today that I got from Parks today. I know it's later than usual for planting (or way early), but will these do okay? I don't care if I don't get blooms this year, but they should still come up, right?

Yep, and they will be really, really short. lol I have a couple of those too.

I got three Lollipop and nine free Strawberry Shortcake. Those may be REALLY short! LOL!!

For the price, I guess the height will be tolerable for this year. :)

s'pose you have lilies that you want to move... when does one dig and move these ladies? I have a bright orange that has made a lot of babies and I'd like to spread them out.... I also have a pink tiger lily that wants to move out of the solid shade of the redbud tree that has volunteered and grown and changed the sun garden to shade.

Would it be safe to move them while they are in bloom or getting close to blooming?

My advice is to wait until this fall after a hard frost. Having said that, I have moved them before, but you need to be very careful to not disturb the roots (very difficult) and to not damage the stalk. Lily bulbs have a habit of moving from where you actually planted them. You need to dig very deep and take enough soil so they don't know they've been moved. If you wait until a hard frost, you don't need to worry about either the root or stalk. You should used a tined fork for lifting bulbs and not a shovel. There is less likelihood of damaging a bulb with a fork, although it can happen.

If I need to move a lily, I'll use an old spoon to lightly move some soil away from the stem to make sure where the bulb really is. Then use a large shovel, starting about 6 inches away from it, bury the shovel to the hilt and scoop up a huge chunk of soil.

BTW ~ dig the hole of it's new home first. Then you can lay it right in without it ever leaving the shovel. :)

Thank you. I think I will get a net for them then. There are theives in my neighborhood.

okay, fall it is.... this is easy with the oriental orange.... but the little tiger just plain disappears later in the summer... guess I'll have to mark the spot with something unmoveable. things get blown around in my yard this year.
This is a tiger - yes? with the curved back petals? it's waay shorter than the orange.

I think it is ok to move lilies after their tops die down. Or if you mistakenly dig one up, just replant it. It may take a little longer to bloom, but I don't think it will die. I've found lily bulbs this way, while digging weeds, and I just replanted in a better spot. I move them in the spring also, if they are in a spot that needs major renovation...

I had a major disappointment when I went to some lily websites this year, and they were all sold out. I think I realize the problem. They didn't have their new postings for this year up yet (I hope!) Have to go back and check it out again.
Sharon