Question about lilies

Hi all!

I'm new to this forum and new to gardening. I have a question about lilies.
What should I do to them after they have finished blooming? Should I cut away all the foliage?
Also, do they propagate?

Thanks in advance for any helpful responses,

Aeryn :-)

Are you talking about hemerocalis (daylillies) or bulbous lillies (oriental, asiatic, trumpet, etc.)?

In the case of bulbous lillies, just deadhead to avoid seed production which takes a lot of energy from the bulb that could be better used for next year's flower production. Don't cut the foliage as it is madly photosynthesizing & storing food in the bulb for next year's show. The foliage adds lovely contrast to the border. If you cut the foliage off, you will either starve the bulb to death or have a very small plant the following year. One can propagate these by allowing one seed pod to mature & planting the seeds. These take several years to create plants capable of flowering. The bulbs of many lilies throw pups off to the side & make lovely clumps. Bulb division can also be done (peeling scales from the bulb) but again, these take a few years to make flowering-sized plants. My favorite way to propogate lilies is to go to the spring and fall sales that B& D lilies have (seattle flower show, various other venues or on site) & getting inexpensive bulbs that will bloom profusely that year.

Hemerocalis foliage is also kind of nice & could be left in place. I have some older varieties whose foliage starts turning brown shortly after they bloom & the dry foliage can be raked away if it offends you. Mine are underplanted with colchicum. This crocus -like plant puts up foliage in the spring & the daylilly foliage covers it as it dies in the summer. The daylillies bloom & the foliage dies and turns a beautiful dried-grass tan color & creates a beautiful contrast for the delicate tissue-paper lavender crocus-like blossoms that emerge, sans foliage, in the fall. (O.K. I'm lazy) Hemerocallis can be easily propogated by dividing plants.

Herpst asked: Are you talking about hemerocalis (daylillies) or bulbous lillies (oriental, asiatic, trumpet, etc.)?



Thanks for your prompt response, Herpst. I certainly don't want to be accused of bulbicide, so I won't cut back the foliage!

In answer to your question, I haven't a clue what kind of lilies they are. However, I suspect they may be the bulbous type. I bought a variety of them at the Clark County Fairgrounds Home and Garden show...12 bulbs for 10 bucks. All I knew was that if I planted them, they would grow. You know, like, build it and they will come lol

A couple years ago I planted a bunch of irises (spelling? irisi?). They didn't bloom the first year but did this year. I interspersed the lilies among the irises. Some of the lilies have bloomed already, and a couple others still have "buds?". The only care I've given them is regular Miracle Grow fertilizer and a good soak every few days. Should I be using a fertilizer made specifically for bulbs?

As for propagating, I don't recall seeing any sort of seed pods. After the blooms were done, the petals fell off. Do bulbs send out roots that sprout up as shoots? I was once told that my irises will do that eventually.

well heck, I just today hacked off the top 1/3 of my non daylily lilies; bulbous of some sort, maybe asiatic? Thanks for the thorough info!

Herpst what is the secret to daylilies? I rather don't like them because the leaves go yellow and brown so very often I'm always picking them off to keep the plant presentable. I water regularly, mulch, and the soil is amended with compost. The flowers are pretty, but I hate that foliage trick they pull all season long.

Taking 1/3 off is o.k. just as long as there is some foliage to gather food for the bulb. I leave mine alone with the exception of deadheading because I'm a lazy gardener. And speaking of lazy - don't know any trick for daylilies. Some varieties seem more prone to the yellow/brown leaf thing than others. I see it as free mulch. While hand watering in the morning or evening, I sing "The Circle of Life" from the Lion King & become philosophical about the garden's lessons about life and death. So my garden looks more like death warmed over...what's your point? Sorry, don't have a clue about changing that plant's habit.

That is why I don't grow many Daylilies. I'm tired of death happening at work I don't need it early in my garden. Every day a bloom dies boo hoo hoo. Too painful.

Soferdig,

My hat is off to you. Vets are some of my favorite people. It must be really hard to do what you do but to humanely end the suffering of our furry children, although excruciating, is such a wonderful gift. I grew up in a small town in Alaska which had no vet for some time (and doesn't now, either). We had to shoot our animals when they couldn't pull through & the weather would not allow a plane to fly. Now, there is a road & the folks there can drive for an hour to get to regular vet care so things are a little better.

Since moving to Washington, I have said goodbye to many wonderful companions. It has been such a blessing to be able to cradle them in my arms & comfort them as our caring vet administers one last injection. Thank you, thank you, thank you for doing that job. You are a hero!

I love the bulb sales at B&D Lilies, especially the Pt. Defiance flower show where they bring their culls from dividing fields of daylilies.
Here's a question, though. Last summer at that show, I bought several bundles of well developed daylilies and have been looking forward to a nice show of color all year. Not a bloom in site. They are in full sun, have plenty of foliage, and got some fertilizer early in the season. I can't figure out why they are not blooming! The roots were plenty big enough to bloom. None of the daylilies I planted last summer is blooming this year, and they are in three different gardens. I'm at a loss. Am I a daylily failure???

Failure is such a strong word. Do you think that because they were bare rooted that they will need a little more time to settle in before they bloom?
To me, daylillies are like junk food. You know it's not good for you but it looks so good. Each year, I say, "o.k. no more daylillies - I'm tired of finding ways of covering that foliage (potted plants work well)" and I decide to move the little darlings further back in the beds where other plants will hide their sins and NEVER buy another. Then it happens - I get a glossy catalog in January, or I'm walking through a nursery in July and I'm seduced by a glorious color combination or a fragrance or this year, by beautiful varigated foliage (last Heronswood trip - sigh) and I succumb to the flowerly wiles of yet another daylilly. And like a bacon double cheesburger, shake, and seasoned curly fries, that daylilly is going to stay with me for a long time (this gut didn't build itself - I'm in shape - a circle is a shape) So, maybe sometime we could actually go into a fast food restaraunt, order a salad and water, skip the dressing and sit and chat over a healthy repast. However, most likely, we'd probably drive up to the window (less work than walking inside), order a basket of onion rings (or anything deep fried) and eat it while speeding toward a nursery full of daylilly seductresses. We are so weak!

Oh ye kindred spirit you! Well, I don't know about the bacon cheeseburger, but I am certainly one who is seduced by the temptress daylily. I bought some from B and D this year at the Pt. Defiance show, and some of them have bloomed already!
I don't know. Maybe they needed an extra year. I hope that's it. I think I will email Band D and ask them about it. You know how it is though, you plan which cultivars to plant together, wait for the show of color, and then when nothing happens, it can be a bit discouraging. My nile lilies didn't bloom this year either. I spend last season planning a bed around these nile lilies and gathering them from hither and yon only to get 1 bloom. Sigh. Bring on the onion rings. I am so pitiful.

And I cut my lily foliage back, too. Hope I didn't go too far with it. I do think I forget about the poor little bulb trying desperately to store up food for the winter.
Sorry, Aeryn. Threads don't always get sidetracked this severely.

A sure seductress is the Oriental or Asiatic Lily to give you a true addiciton to the wisps of the Sirens of the garden. Each Lily of this type will draw you into the heavy addiction of the narcotic pleasure of unlimited supply of color, size and shape. Please close my beaded curtain.... Ahhhhhhh......

Oh, please... I don't even try to resist the Oriental lilies anymore. I buy bulbs every year for which I have absolutely no space. There are pots of them all over my yard in addition to the many in the ground. That fragrance, the colors. Don't even get me started on those strumpet trumpets...I think I need to be alone for a few minutes...

Geez burgers and curly fries, animal companions and luring lilies behind beaded curtains! This NW forum is dangerous!

I love the asiatics too. A couple highly scented white/ pale pink opened today and perfume the entire upper perennial bed. Yum... That is an oriental I think. ( I need to study up on lilium types.)

So it sounds like daylilies are just going to be doing that dying leaf thing no matter what I try. Not my favorite feature, but I do like some of the flowers.

Pixydish, I have received many daylilies in trades/swaps and even though this is the second year, quite a few haven't bloomed yet, so don't give up.

Ahh, the scent of the lovely lilies! "black beauty" began her bloom today! And the scent of African Queen and her paramour 'Copper King' get me giddy! Narcotic pleasure, indeed! Whoops! What is Herpst doing behind that beaded curtain???? Resist the lily temptress? I think not!

Thanks for that, Poochella. Maybe they are just late bloomers.

Pardon us, Aeryn. You can see that Herpst and Soferdig are in the midst of a lilium-induced pleasure binge. Poochella and I are close behind. We don't mean to leave you in the dust. Just a whiff of a scented lily is all it will take to bring you right along on this euphoric ride. I highly recommend the bulbs at B and D Lilies. Go to:
http://www.bdlilies.com/ and sign up for their newsletter. You'll get advance notice of all their sales and their web-only specials. Their bulbs are top quality and generally huge. My African Queen bulbs were almost 8" across when I bought them. The flowers are a full 7 feet from the ground. Here's the first open bud from last year. It is dreamy! I see that you are in Vancouver. If you really want good deals on lilies, including day lilies, plan to attend the pt Defiance flower and garden show here in Tacoma next year. B and D sells at wholesale prices at that show. Each year they divide and replant 1/3 of their liliy fields. What they take out, they sell in big bundles at the show. It's a great way to get lots of lilies for a small price.

PIXYDISH;
Pay no attention to the little man behind the curtain, the mighty OZ has spoken!! heheh

Speaking of fragrant temptresses, one of my larger brugmansias is in full bloom. Ahh, high summer when evening is drawing nigh and the lilies are still pouring forth fragrance and the honeysuckle and brugmansia begin their nocturnal symphony of olfactory delight. I love gardening in the PNW - this is truly paradise...well except when stuff gets stolen from the yard or the racoons destroy a water garden or the whitefly & aphids coat the sidewalk under the liriodendron trees with sticky sugar glaze...oops, getting off track. Happy summer all.

This message was edited Jul 29, 2006 8:24 AM

LOL!! Those beaded curtains draw a veil over all kinds of things!
Oy vey! the smells that waft forth from the blooming brugmansia! I had 4 cycles of blooms from my largest one, and now it's growing, but I don't see any buds. Maybe a shot of seaweed extract...

For your amusement, here is a photo of the world's smallest blooming brug: the bloom was so close to the ground I used chopsticks to hold it up. Probably should have removed the bud, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

That is so adorable! I've never seen one that small bloom. The kids want to be adults so soon.

I know! Isn't it cute? I could not bear to cut it off. I got this as a cutting in a trade from last year and it has been growing in the greenhouse all winter. I put it out into the garden with all the 'big' plants and within a month I had this bud. But, lesson learned, because in terms of total growth, all of my other brugs are way bigger than this one. This is 'Insignis coral'.

poochella, I grow lots of daylilies, probably250 named varieties and more than 100 seedlings, and I have learned over the years just not to even look at the foliage after June 1, just look at the blooms.Here are a couple of pictures to emphasize The first one is a picture of a last bloom of Grape Splash.

Donna

And if I can locate it a picture of Grape Splash clump with some of the dead and dying old blooms which if I weren't a lazy gardner and it hadn't been so terribly hot , I would have removed.

Donna

And here is one of my later blooming seedlings, 2003-10-4

Donna

Donna, these are beautiful!

And since we are talking about both bulb lilies and daylilies , here is a photo of a true bulb lily, that I bought several years ago from PNWL lily soc., labeled Rosy Splendor. Not sure that is correct as it is almost completely white, with just the lightest rosy cast on some petals, but it is very pretty growing under a locust tree.

Donna

Sorry about the wrong name on previous photo, it really is a true lily, not a daylily.

Donna

Thankyou herbst. I used to be very involved in the daylily society, but since getting older and not driving in larger cities any more, I don't travel as much.

Donna

Donna you are always showing us beautiful. I can't wait till I travel to seattle now it will have to be before June 1st. I so much want to see your garden. Maybe this fall?

soferdig, come anytime.. But you will have to make allowances for my having lost the month of May and half of June due to my surgery and no being able to work outside and lately because of the heat. Today was wonderful, temp never reached 80 degrees and even a few drops of rain. Now I am in the process of finding a surgeon to do the necessary surgery to remove the diverticultis area of my intestines and reconnect where necessary to remove the temp. colostomy.

Hopefully the surgeon who is supposed to be coming to Tonasket by Aug. 15, will get here be the right one to do the surgery, then I won't have to have my daughter come and stay with me as if no complications, I will be allowed to go home from hosp. in a week .

Donna

Donna that last seedling photo is fabulous!! Are you saying that this is your own cultivar? Outstanding! I do hope you can get your health back on track soon. It's a shame to miss your gardening season! Thoughts and prayers go out to you for a safe surgery and fast recovery.

B and D lilies wrote me back really quickly and it looks like I may have planted the roots too deeply. That can cause a lack of flowering. I did add a layer of compost after planting, so that may have been a no-no. Tomorrow I'll go out and see it I can 'lift' them a bit.

It's about the end of the road for my lilies this year, and much sooner than usual. None of them actually collapsed in the heat, but they did go fast. The perfume on warm evenings was intoxicating.
Here's Orania

African Queen- and honestly, some of the new ones had buds as big as bananas

and the oddly named Red Hot

Kyra, good photos of very pretty lilies. The one I posted of Rosy Splendor doesn't show much rose, but that may have something to do with extremely hot weather.

Pixydish, yes the sdlg. is one of my crosses. In earlier years the 1980s I introduced 7 or8 seedling daylilies. All in the Blackberry line. I wanted to make some more crosses this summer but the weather was just too hot. And because of the weather my daylilies are finshed for the summer except for a few reblooms.

Donna

Well, Donna, if that's an example of your talented daylily crossing, I hope next year is better for you!
Kyra, don't you just love African Queen? That's the lily that caused me to introduce that golden color into the garden. I just couldn't pass that one up!

Must be crazy about African Queen- they keep coming back and I still keep buying more. I like the rich orange gold with the purple bronze reverse so much more than Golden Splendour. Then again, it takes absolutely no persuasion to get me to go for hot colours. I keep winding up with an embarrassment of oranges.

I love African Queen, too. That rich melon color makes my heart sing!

She is totally divine!! Meant to post that this year I moved some of mine to grow up through my smoke trees. They are the classic purple leafed variety. I loved the look! Plus, the smoke tree branches gave them support so they stood up nice and straight. That one was a winner. But I'm thinking that I didn't get a photo, unfortunately. They were blooming during those really hot days we had and they didn't last too long this year. Rats.

This message was edited Aug 1, 2006 8:25 AM

Wow! What a great combination! I bet it was a knockout!

You said it! Definitely a winner! And the smoke trees are underplanted with a copper colored daylily I got from B and D this year. Hope they bloom next year for that same stunning combo! (If my cats don't dig them up.)

Splendid idea, Pixydish- If i steal it, I will give credit. I do have a lonely new smokebush that needs company other than the rank weeds that are clustered around it. It's a royal purple, but it reverted to green over the last few months since I planted it. Is that normal? Will the purple come back as it gets established? So far the deer have let the potted lilies that are not in my fenced area alone, so it might be worth a try.