On my formosanums.
Never saw this happen before, but two different plants have this happening. Anyone know about this on L. formosanum or other trumpets?
Robert.
Blown out Trumpet?
One of my seedlings did the same thing....only worse.
Isn't that curious?
Maybe the heavy rains we had here had some effect, over-doing the water at a critical point in the bud development......the blooms that have followed aren't popping open at the base now.....
Robert.
I don't know anything about these since this is my first time growing them and from seed to boot! However this particular bud started out very small with the separations evident and has just kept growing that way and we have been in the midst of a drought. This is the only one of 18 or so plants that I am aware of that has done this. Curious? Yes!
Very interesting in that I have the same problem as Lilyfan, but even more drastic on Lilium nepalense. Looks the same, but actual flower development is not there. No stamens or pistol, and only about an inch long. I assumed this is because of stress. This is the first year for nepalense for me from a mature bulb. I planted it in April, but it didn't emerge until mid June! I thought it was a goner.
I wonder if it is caused by some environmental factor common to us all, like the extra heat we have been having.
Rick
I do find it interesting that all 3 of us have experienced the same abnormality on our species lilies of trumpet form. Is it possible that this might just be a 'normal' response to a form of stress as Leftwood mentioned. Rain, heat, drought, transplanting?
Since mine are seedlings and the two of you had bulbs and bulblets of at least one season in age it might be a fairly common occurance to the varieties, and now that more of us are growing them we 'see' this happening. What do you think?
I have a great story about my L. nepalense if you want to hear it!
Of course!
We're waiting...
Me too!
Me three!
Note: Some of the newer blossoms on mine are splitting.
Just a question: In looking at pix of this one, I notice that mine are much curlier than any I have seen so far. Is this typical or do we suspect a cultivar here? I much prefer the curl in the ones I have--the strictly formed ones look too formal and remind me of all those mass-produced wagonloads of "seasonal longiflorum", just not my cuppa, but I *have* grown and loved those too.....
When I bought it, it was ID'd as Lilium candidum, the Madonna Lily. I think not.......
Robert.
OK! disclaimer: at least i think it is a great story!
I recieved the bulb at the beginning of May this year and being totally unfamiliar with it I decided to place it in a pot since I was aware of it tending to be less hardy. I placed it in an 8 inch tall pot with 4 inches of soil lightly tamped down under the costly little bulb. I carefully watered and thinking to protect from some serious baking I placed that pot in another which was slightly larger and created an insultating airspace around the planted pot.
I diligently watched the pot for about 3 weeks, watering when i watered my other lilies, which were up a couple of inches now and kinda worring about the amount of money that may be decaying in the midst of that barren looking pot. At about 4 weeks I couldn't take it anymore as NOTHING was happening, so....I moved that pot to a shadier location amongst some other lilies on the east side of my house. Everyday I would walk by this pot and look at it and say an explicative I can't repeat here and dutifully water it as needed.
A full 8 weeks later while I was deadheading some of the old lily blooms I decided I have had it with 'watching the pot' and decided a new location out of sight was needed for my piece of mind!
To be continued:
So....I grabbed that pot and gave a good pull as I stood up and this long willowy (is that a word?) pliable (thank the Lord) stem came along with that barren pot.
As I took a closer look it was obvious that it was a lily stem and that it had grown up between the 2 pots. Now, I had heard that those nepalense could wander; so, that was why I had planted it on 4 inches of tamped soil in that pot. I guess that when it put out its wandering stem, it hit the side of the pot and got disoriented and went down rather than up, finally found the drainage hole, got its bearings, and started looking for the sun.
I now very carefully continued to remove it from its place among the asiatics and not only was there a stem of 18 inches, there was a very nice bud on the end of that same stem!
Part 3 coming in a minute!
I carefully placed the pot on a stand with other potted lilies to shade it and just 6 days later(July9th) it rewarded me for not dumping it out all those weeks (just to see if it was still healthy) with a bloom!
The color isn't as rich as some I've seen pictures of, but it is my bloom and I could look at it up close for a week.
The end
Ahhhh! What a happy ending! Please keep us informed on how it does next year.
Sweet! Thanks.
Robert.
Bravo! Not only a good story, but a great story teller!
And . . . . . uh, oh. While your lily is definitely nepalense, mine doesn't have leaves like that. Much narrower, and do not look at all oriental like yours. Nepalense has huge variations in flower form, maybe it does with leaves too, but I'm not to optimistic. My leaves are more like that of L. leucanthum, with a bit of roundness to them.
The bulb was very unique. Dark maroon, very tight, and relatively few, but very large scales. Looked like a sewn up purple leather ball. Did yours look like that Lilyfan? Anyone else have any ideas? I think Mainiac receive nepalense from the same vendor as me. I think I'll D-mail her.
Rick
Hmmm... this has sent me scurrying to my reference books and so far 2 out of 2 show nep leaves looking oriental like. The bulb description sounds right though according to McRae's description: "....flattened globe with broad overlapping generally whitish pink to purple scales".
Hmmm from me too pardalinum, as we both know there is more than one type of L nepalense. It's a few years since I planted mine, it was small but definitely not dark maroon, more a whitish colour perhaps with a purple flush but I don't really remember that.
Leaves, hmmm, yours does look like a L nepalense lilyfan, many pics I have seen look like that, and a first year flower will sometimes reflect what the bulb has previously been grown in. Soil and all sorts of factors can change that, next year it might look different.
I found mine took a few years to settle into a regular colour pattern, they get better when truly established.
Looking at a pic of mine from last year, the leaves do have that corrugation
Robert, I love your lily, the shape has that extra something, I am jealous! Time to research!
Thanks,Wallaby1, but of course I can't take credit for it. ;-))) I'm quite fond of the curls and twists. I wonder if a really droopy long-petaled swirly kind of strain might be bred.........
And there you go with that wonderful nepalense, that blotch just makes me drool!
I think the summers here in my part of NC are just too hot and humid for that one and so many of the Lilium species, that I just don't even want to have them for a single spring only to lose them in the summer. I can't afford too, anyway, lol.
Robert.
Perhaps my whole plant is anemic (for lack of a better word), and not just the flower bud. But I still doubt it as the leaf form is still uncharacteristic. Still, only time will tell, if it lives through the winter to begin with. I was toying with overwintering the bulb in the refrigerator, because literature says nepalense needs dry winters, and my winter might be too cold anyway. Apparently, people have done this successfully. But I am leaning away from that now. I purposely planted it on a rise where I can easily keep the soil dry through the winter, and I am thinking I will just take my chances with some heavy mulching.
Robert and Wallaby, I am so lustful. Your lilies are simply scrumptious!
Rick
Leftwood~
I've been toying with the idea of using a spare refrigerator to store resting bulbs as well. A spare fridge could be set at a much higher temp that is used normally, 45-55 F, and would hold them at a much better temp than a household fridge, too cold in many instances, and avoud having them exposed to the (extreme) lows and fluctuations of outdoors.
Robert.
I planted my l nepalense on a rise also, I have a large stone next to where I planted it, that may help to keep in moisture when drier in growth, it may also help keep out frost.
I think you would be better leaving it in the ground and try to keep the frost out, they need to wander and establish, they resent disturbance.
One thing is for sure, you will find out!
Great isn't it Leftwood, when we ourselves have something that send the saliva glands into overdrive, instead of drooling over other's treasures! Tehe.
Now you are getting me going Robert with your droopy swirls and twists!
Have the grandbabies here so haven't been on much! Thanks for the positive feedback on my story! It is a good thing that I wasn't telling it 'live', because I sometimes get sidetracked and forget what I was saying to start with. Writing gave me a chance to collect what is left of my few wits.
Leftwood, I am so sorry to have been the one that caused a doubt to form as to the true identity of your lily.
To be perfectly honest.....I don't remember my bulbs appearance except for being rather smaller than I was used to seeing in some of my other lilies. I truly don't remember it being purple at all.
I think I am going to cut the pot off when it shows signs of going dormant and pot it into another large pot about 24 inches across and winter it under my house like I had planned to do. If it actually manages to increase, I will consider putting some in the ground. We have very wet springs down here and I would hate to see all of them die because of a very wet cold spring.
I was out checking on my buds on the L. formosum and I have found 4 more that are showing signs of the blowout now.
Sure hope I get some of those curly blooms!