It seems that all catalogues (fall and spring) have lillies for sale and I am wondering what is the best time to plant them. Forinstance will an Oriental do just as well planted in the spring as in the fall? You never see narcissus, tulips, etc. for sale in the spring. Probably a dumb question.
Best planting time for lillies
There are no dumb questions, don't worry.
I prefer to plant them in the fall, it gives them more time to settle in, but spring planting is fine too, once your soil is workable. In my experience , in zone 5, the sooner you get them into workable soil in spring, the better they do the first year after planting. Many of the sales are late in spring, and you are still fine to plant, but the bulbs, in my experience, don't do as well the first year. I have bought from sales, of course, some are too hard to resist, and I plant those the very minute they arrive.
Orientals need a cold period to bloom and for spring shipped bulbs, they have most likely gotten these in cold storage with the warehouse or grower. Tulips need that cold period too, to bloom.
Hope that helps.
I prefer fall planting too, but the biggest assortment of lilies to buy is usually available in spring. This is because lilies are dug late in the fall, and the window for shipment before many areas freeze is a short one. So the majority are put in cold storage till spring. Lilies never go completely dormant, so no matter when you get them, its a good idea to get them planted quickly. Since its usually the 2nd or 3rd year before the lilies reach maturity, its not a very big deal whether you plant in fall or spring.
Just to set some facts straight:
o Orientals are not the only lilies that require a cold period to bloom. Most do require a minimum of 12 weeks of cold. Longaflorums don't seem to need this cold treatment.
o It is true that you should plant lilies as soon as possible. The bulbs never go dormant and, therefore, if you must hold them over, it should be in a baggie packed in peat, in your fridge. The vegetable keeper is a good spot. Do not using the packing material that came with your bulb unless it is peat.
o I don't worry much about holding over fall purchased bulbs because they are freshly dug. However, if you intend to hold over spring purchased bulbs, don't do it for more than a few weeks. Spring purchased bulbs will deteriorate quickly seeing as they have already spent 5 to 6 months in cold storage. A better bet is to plant them in pots and allow them to grow (and bloom) until fall and then plant them after a killing frost.
o Orientals in particular, need to be able to set their roots before the cold sets in, otherwise, they could die on you during the winter; especially if it is cold and no snow. In my zone, I prefer to plant orientals in the spring. It may not matter in Levilya's zone, but I'd be concerned about Magnolialover's zone.
o It's not that lilies don't do well their first year, it's that they need time to grow roots and mature. One of the reasons people like these huge bulbs is because the bulb is older and will usually put out many more blooms than what is normal for a first year bulb. Small is not necessarily bad and I prefer a smaller bulb because it settles in better and is easier to plant. There are also some indications that a smaller bulb will live longer than a larger bulb, but I'm not sure if this is always true.
o If you plant bulbs late in the fall and they don't show up the following year, leave them be. It's very possible they are working on growing roots and they don't have enough energy to set a stem. In all likelihood, they will show up the following year. I've had bulbs that didn't show for two years and on the third, finally appeared.
Many thanks.