Propagating lilies from bulb scales

The following is some information that Illoquin Dmailed to me a while back, when I mentioned to her that I'd ordered a bunch of lilies through a co-op this spring.

(I am posting it here with her permission.)

"Get some sandwich ziplocs and put a label in them for each of the varieities you ordered. When the bulbs come, fill each with BARELY damp spagnum peat or vermiculite. Examine your bulbs for loose scale, anddon't forget the bottom of the baggie because there could be some there, too. Handle each variety separately -- do all of one kind together before going to the next kind. For each bulb, pull off the outer 3 or 4 scales andslip them in the baggie. 2 of the 4 will be "flabby" (useless to the bulb) and the other 2 will be turgid -- they will help the bulb, maybe, but probably not. SNAP them form the base of thebulb. The turgid ones might sound like carrots snapping in half.

(She recently amended the above to note that that bulbs and individual scales are plumpest in FALL, not spring. In spring, the outside 2 or 3 scales will be flabby and not good candidates for scaling. It's because these were harvesed last fall and stored cold over winter. So depending on how large your bulbs are, you might want to take some fat scales from them in fall rather than when they arrive in spring.)

Stick them in a dark place, room temperature for 4 weeks - a month or 30 days -- which ever is easier to remember and at the end of the time look for roots. If they arent rooted -- is it dark? Is it 70 degrees or room temp? If so, try 2 more weeks. But they should be rooted.

For everything except Trumpets & Asiatics:
If they are rooted, stick them in the refrigeraotr for 3 months or 12 weeks or until Mother's Day or whatever will help you jog your memory to go looking for them. Then pot them up ina nursery pot and they will throw up leaves. Next year a stem, the next year a flower.

Trumpets & Asiatics do not need chilling - they can go out to the garden if it's the right time of year. Over 40 degrees and no night with potential frost) You *can* chill them to hold them back, though.

After chilling, instead of potting them I just plant everything out under the mother bulbs where I know what they are and what they will be when they bloom. But my lily soil is VERY friable (meaning that she probably wouldn't recommend direct planting in a hard, clay soil)."

thanks critter. now what is the name of that one pictured above?

'Scherazade'

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/49931/index.html

Sorry, I should've anticipated that question! :-) It's a huge, tall orienpet -- one of my favorites and the centerpiece of my lily bed.

I CAN GROW THAT!!!! yippee! i heard from steve from the ft. worth area. he said black beauty does great here. that one should too.

Thanks Critter for the informative post.

When I got my five Lilium candidum ("Madonna Lily") bulbs at summer's end, I planted all the scales that had come loose in the bag alongside the main bulbs and most of them seem to have struck. Love when it's so easy to make more!

R.

raydio, that does seem like an easier approach, and even if you get only half as many that way you wouldn't have to deal with little baggies of peat moss and lily scales in your fridge all winter... but I tend to take a micro-managing approach to propagation sometimes, LOL.

I always order my lilies in the fall. I am a lazy gardener. I just stick the loose scales in a 4" pot of soil, set them under the ficus tree in the side yard and plant the survivors in the spring. I dig up the clumps in late Sept, stick them in the fridge until Feb and hope for the best next year. Usually two full seasons to get blooms.

Dale, why do you think it's necessary to dig up the lilies between their first and second seasons of growth? Or do you have to lift and chill all your lilies in order to get blooms in your zone? I must be missing something here...

Scaling sure makes buying a lily on the pricey side seem far more worthwhile. I scaled my first OT lily llast fall and it has done beautifully over the winter. It was much easier than I though.
Also of not, the Oriental x Trumpet lilies may or may not need refrigeration to get their first leaf. All of the OTs I started from seed and from scale did NOT require the fridge time. How exciting! Instant success!

Critter,

We don't have winter chill here. If I don't lift them and store in fridge they won't break dormancy (they won't sprout again at all, no leaves as well as no flowers). It isn't that much trouble for me, since I love them. I do have 3 lillies that come back on their own, Easter lilies and a couple hybrids of it. They will be blooming soon and then they go dormant until fall.

Blue-eyed Grass
Sisyrinchium 'Suwannee' Florida native

Dale -- lovely photo! And that does make sense about needing to chill the bulbs in your zone... :-)

Critter~

It was mostly an "on-the-fly" effort without much thought other than to see if any of the scales that were knocked off might sprout. I would certainly use a more careful approach as you follow if my aim was more focused, lol.

R.

PS to Dale~

I love our native "little blue-eyed grass" S. angustifolium. It is so easy from seed and will grow and flower under many different conditions, even total neglect.



This message was edited Mar 10, 2007 12:53 PM