Practical Lily info

Hi,

I have reserved a few spots for some drifts of lilies in my border. I have the ortho bulb book but I'm looking for some practical info. I'm referring just to Oriental and Asiatic lilies. I'm in zone 9.

I believe each plant has several flowers per stem so I'm thinking for a modest 6' wide border I should probably plant no more than a few bulbs per grouping. I'm placing these towards the back of the border so they really only have the back half or so. Ortho says to plant the bulbs about 1' apart at a minimum. Is there a particular pattern that works well or just a oval cluster?

I'm guessing that it's a good idea to stake these. Is the best way to do this with the green bamboo + velcro strips?

I once grew some of these in pot in full sun. I think I remember the flowers not lasting too long or burning. Luckily, the location in the border only get full sun until about 3:00 or so but I'm guessing this still may not prevent burning. Are there any colors that take the heat well or is this not really a problem?

Thanks

PS. Is there a particularly good book available on bulbs like a bulb encyclopedia with practical info? The ortho book might be worth what I paid for it but that's not saying much.

I would plant in groups of 3 of the same kind. Give them about 4-5 inches of space between-- the bulb will grow some more and can even get quite large if given the chance. I think your lighting situation is good-- shade during the hotter afternoon-- same as my conditions. Otherwise some lilies will burn; orientals are particularly sensitive. Consider your colors and bloom times. You probably want to avoid clashes (eg orange next to pink) unless you like them that way. If you want bloom from summer through fall you may want to add some trumpet lilies to the mix. Order of bloom times are asiatic first, followed by trumpets, followed by orientals with some overlap of these times.

Rather than place stakes now, just put a stick in next to the bulbs where a stake would go-- maybe 2" from the bulb. Then next year if it turns out you need to stake them you can replace the stick with the stake without risk of jabbing the bulb. I do use the special 1 piece velcro made especially for garden use. I also use these green plastic stakes available at just about any box store.

One very important point about growing lilies is they need excellent drainage. No standing water or slow draining areas.

Rather than run out an spend on a book why not post on the lily forum your questions, then if you get really addicted (there are a few of us) you can ask about investing in a book.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/lilies/all/
The Lily Forum - come join in - we LOVE lillies!

Thanks so much!

Everybody is so nice on these forums - perhaps gardeners tend to be happy, well adjusted people?

No orange and pink next to each other? Hmmm...I was going to plant pardilinum (panther) with pink maragons.....But they don't bloom at exactly the same time, do they?

Those and a Black Beauty, which I await from the Bulbmeister coop, are my first lilies. I was going to put the Black Beauty in a five gallon pot for the winter, as I don't have it's permanant place ready yet. Is this ok?

Yes that is OK. If you normally get much rain you may want to cover the pot. Too much water can rot the bulbs in a pot.

Ok. But then, should I water it? I guess ten seconds uncovered in the winter would probably do the trick, but how often?

For me, my best results have been when the potting soil is kept just damp, not soaking wet. We get a fair amount of rain in the winter here (usually, anyway). If you are using a real fast draining soil it shouldn't be a problem for you. Just make sure the pot doesn't go dry during the winter; maybe check on it once a month.

I did end up with pink and orange this year-- an extremely very orange daylily in front of my pink miniature roses. I am not familiar with the bloom time of martagons. My pardalinums started blooming around the last week of June. They seem to be easy to grow and send out these stolons that grow new bulbs on the end-- kind of a perpetual bulb-maker! You might try posting on the lily forum, I am sure there are people who grow martagons there.

:-)
Thank you.

Hi and welcome. I grow martagon lilies here in the north of England in zone 8 and they flower well in shade in June/July. They are easy from seed too - some of my own white seedlings flowered this year at about 3 years old. My advice would be to just try what you like and see what does well in your garden. Do you plan to interplant your lilies with other perennials?

Yes, Galanthophile, but haven't decided which yet. What do you recommend? I was considering planting Gaura 'Whirling Butterflies' in the same bed, and perhaps this native, low growing Zauschneria
http://www.laspilitas.com/plants/706.htm
I'm thinking, I hope correctly, that the pards and martagons will be similiar in culture to the CA native lily
http://www.laspilitas.com/plants/388.htm

Do your martagons need staking? How tall do yours get?

The spot I've picked for the martagons and pards gets morning sun and afternoon shade. I've built the bed up about 12" to insure good drainage, and have added lots of compost to my already fabulous soil. (I'm so lucky!).

How deep do lily roots go?

This message was edited Oct 28, 2006 10:40 AM