I have been busy planting lilies that I purchased recently. My question is about the depth of the lilies. It says to plant them 6" deep. I'm getting as close as I can to that depth, but fear they are not all planted that deep. Do you think they will be okay?
Sherry
Lily depth question
They'll be fine. Bulbs should be planted 2-3 times deep as they are tall. So a 2 inch bulb should be around 4-6 inch deep unless they are very large or very small ~ go accordingly. The nice thing about lilies is that they will pull themselves to the proper depth.
Happy planting!
In my zone I often plant lilies deeper; 8" or more depending on the bulb size. In your zone, you should be OK with planting more shallow. However, if a bulb has to pull itself down, it will take energy and probaby delay for one season things such as bulb size and creating new bulbs. One thing you need to keep in mind when it comes time to divide your bulbs, dig deep. Chances are they will not be as shallow as you expect.
Moby and beaker_ch,
Thank you very much for the info. I thought it would be okay, but feel better about it after hearing from others who know more about these things than me. ;o)) I tried to get them deep enough, but in some spots it was more difficult (rocks, roots, etc.).
Thanks again,
Sherry
Sherry what is that tree in the background? Some type of conifer? The hanging branches look interesting.
intercessor,
It is a Weeping Atlantic Cedar. I have it in the back of one of my gardens. I planted it in April of 2002. Here are a couple photos, one from April 2002 and the second, from June 2006. Quite a difference! ;o)
Sherry
And here is the photo from June of this year.
Sherry
There is one of those wonderful trees growing right out over Pandora St. in Victoria. Every now and then it starts a shoot growing upright, so the city takes a cherry picker to cut off the shoot and to keep it growing out over the street.
Most amazing trees. Yours has grown so much, so fast.
I really love them
inanda
edited to add:
Your garden is lovely. What a difference from the beginning till now.
This message was edited Oct 12, 2006 3:28 PM
Sherry, your gardens and trees are beautiful. I have absolutely no talent for placing trees. Do you have to stake that Atlantic Cedar? I have two Weeping Norway Spruces to put somewhere, I just haven't decided where yet. ;)
Diann
inanda,
Thank you for the compliment! And yes, it amazes me how fast everything has filled in and matured. Especially the Weeping Atlantic Cedar and the 2 evergreen trees. In the first picture, the evergreen on the left is just barely above the fence. In the 2nd photo, it is towering over the fence at least double in height and width. Good thing I didn't plant the two evergreens any closer together! At the time I planted the things in that garden, it still looked so empty. What a difference 4 years made!
Diann,
The weeping cedar was not staked. I just planted it and let it go. But as it started to grow new limbs I put a 2x4 underneath one of the limbs to train it to stay up because I didn't want it hanging down on the ground in the way and it looked nice up higher. Just last month I was out in the garden and the 2x4 was laying on the ground. I wondered what the heck happened! When I went to check it out, I was pleasantly surprised to see it was holding itself up now! So when the weight came off of the 2x4, the 2x4 just fell over. Pretty cool, I thought! I also have a Weeping Norway Spruce in these photos. It's the smaller little evergreen thingie on the left toward the front of the photo. I think I'm going to do some pruning on it, as so far I've just let it go. I'm certainly no expert on placing trees and shrubs and flowers together! I just try to place them where I think they will look good. On this particular garden, I placed the 2 evergreen trees on the right side, figuring it would look better to have the tallest on that end of the garden since I have a tree on the other end. And I wanted the Weeping Cedar in the back as a backdrop and to help cover the fence and add some interest. And then I placed the other things here and there in the middle. And as time went by, I have added many perennials, lilies, daylilies, clematis and other 'stuff'. LOL I'm still adding..... It's always a work in progress! Right now I am concentrating on a bed in my front yard that will look much different in the future than it has in the past. I hope it turns out the way I imagine I want it! But we shall see......... Thank you for the compliments!
Sherry
I always wanted a weeping pussywillow. They are so pretty.
I do currently have one exciting(to me) tree, now about knee high. It is a contorted willow, given to me 2 years ago by someone who thought she was killing it. Think the secret is WATER. For willows.
inanda
I think the willows will grow in just about anything inanda! I have two bunches of contorted willows that came from stems we bought at the home show...we stuck them in water to keep them green for a bit and they rooted like crazy. We stuck them in the ground outside and now they are about 15 feet high and branching out all over....nice bit of shade and protection from the little bit of street frontage....