Lilies and frost danger?

Several of my lilies froze ( they were up 6" to 12" ) , turned to mush and fell over. I cut them back to the ground. Any chance of them coming back this year ????..I couldn't cover them because I was away from home for a few days.

Wanda,
Since I know you've gone through this before, will the lilies that are totally mush above ground (about 6-8") continue to grow more stem to feed the bulbs for the summer? I know the blooms are history :-( and to make matters worse, the one hit the hardest were some Black Beauties that have been in the ground for their 3rd year, the stems were huge so I know I lost some awesome blooms, boo hoo!
Vicki

Sadie Mae and Sylvadi,
I went through this 4 years ago with Regale. The were about a foot tall, but after the frost they were frozen sticks that did not bloom. But because they did not use their strength to bloom (and they will not bloom this year - I wish I could tell you otherwise) the blooms in successive years were amazing. The bulbs in the following year were so vigourous and produced such large bulblets that I was forced to divide them and spread the wealth around the yard.

I wish I could give you better immediate news (I cried my eyes out at the time - my husband thought I was NUTS) but wonderful things are in the future. I do suggest that you get a supply of small, cheap terra cotta pots. The first night I knew the temperatures were going to drop below freezing, I went outside with a flashlight and put 99 cent pots on them. It will take away worry in future years.

Donna

Thanks Donna. Should I trim off the top part of the stem, that's all mushy and fallen over, or will it just rot away? Thankfully, I think I'll only lose about 1/3 of this years blooms, some weren't up much if any at all but those Black Beauties must have been eager, I did have some Regals that were up and are mush too. I didn't cry but I sure felt sick! Can't wait to see what they do next year, I'll be more prepared then too.

Hi Sadie Mae,

I didn't trim mine off, which was probably unwise. Dead and decaying material would probably be a magnet for insects and disease. I'd go ahead and remove the mushy part. If you can cut to ground level, or just above to mark the spot, that would probably be good as well.

You're more of a grown up than I was. It was a major boo hoo. I just regret that I didn't find this thread sooner. Perhaps I could have saved a few people a few lilies.
A toast to next year!

Donna

LOL, I'm got that grown up....if it had been my daylilies, I'd be crying like a baby!!
Yes, a toast to better blooms next year!!

I finally ventured out to my gardens today to take a look at what the freezing weather did. All of the lilies from last years seeds have been frozen and about 70% of the big ones. Guess I will not have many asiatic lillies in bloom this yrd. When I looked at all the damage from the freeze my gardening soul started crying and it's still crying. Makes my heart hurt to look at the destruction. LIZ

Donna

Thanks for the info although it was not what I had hoped to hear... I can't stand to wait a whole year+ for my beautiful lily blooms, so it gives me an excuse to add a few more to my garden. I especially like the new salmon color and Casablanca. Again, thanks for the response

Diane

Sylvadi,

DO get Casablanca! I have a bunch of them. If you put them in now I think they will bloom for you in July or August. For something so ethereal looking they are tough, disease resistent and multiply well. People walking down the street in front of my house would stop and ask WHAT the wonderful scent was. And I have never lost one to frost, even leaving them unprotected. I hope that you find them as glorious as I did. It was the first lily I ever got, and I'm still in love.

What a great remedy for everyone with losses. Put in lilies that can be planted in spring for late summer bloom! Thanks for the inspiration.

Donna

This message was edited Apr 13, 2007 9:51 AM

Good news on my front. The only lily I had up was a Black Beauty that was just breaking ground when the cold hit 1 1/2 weeks ago. I got the nerve to pull the 6-8 inches of leaves off to check on it. The stem is nice and firm and has only grown an inch. So here's to hoping :*)...

Andrew

Good for you Andrew!! :)

I just got up the nerve to check on the lilies that had popped up before the cold and snow set it. They are a lot taller and look wonderful. The two on the south side of the house that are up are the Madonnas. I was really worried about those guys this year. I was sure they wouldn't make it. The set of 5 that are up on the north side of the house are a mystery, but I believe they are from Buggy. Now to make it thru the rest of this month and May!

I'm gonna wait a couple days before I pull the leaves off, just in case.

I covered them back up. I had piled leaves over them and then topped that with big pots. They have already grown up past the pile of leaves I applied just before the cold snap. I'm running out of emergency mulch, so I hope we've seen the last of the cold weather. I have my fingers crossed.

The Madonnas are super resilient little buggers, that is for certain. They were up further than anybody and look so perfect, as if to laugh at that frosty weather. Love it!
Sounds like good news for you intercessor.

This message was edited Apr 14, 2007 8:48 AM

I still have snow on the north side of my house! Should be gone after today though. No lilies up there, of course, but the Lycoris squamigera has been up for about 2 weeks.

I would think, Beaker, that on the south side of your house, if you want to delay your Madonna's more, shade for your mulch would do more than additional mulch - and keeping the surface of the mulch moist for evapotranspiration
cooling. Perhaps there is a way for you to put up a burlap (or whatever) fence that angles somewhat over your lilies.

Magnolialover, my madonnas are laughing at the weather too. Three days ago we got a foot and a half of snow - the heavy stuff that's half melted and breaks your back when you shovel it. My madonnas actually continued to develop underneath. Now it's all melting again, and new lilies are revealing themselves. But my viburnum carlesi, at 9 feet tall, had a major and minor limb so badly damaged that I'm going to have to lop them off. I try to think of it as being in the same category as the rabbits chewing on my shrubs (oh, yes, I meant to prune that!)

I guess we're all learning a lot this winter, but wow it's a hard lesson.

Donna

Right now I'm stuggling with the decision to start cleaning up the beds or not. The 10 day forecast has the lows below freezing or just hovering thereabouts until next Thursday. I may wait another week, but I sure am anxious to get out there.

Do you think if I put something like that up in the fall it would prevent plants waking up as early as they do on that side of the house? That's the one thing I hate about that side garden. I have a lot of orientals and more tenders over on that side and I think they bloom too early in relationship with my other lilies. I would like to do something about delaying those a bit. The lilies I have on the north side of my garage bloom later than the ones out in the general garden and, to be truthful, I like those later blooms as it extends the asiatic and LA bloom times.

Let's face it, I just hate it when the lilies are all done blooming. It depresses me. I wish I could find some plants that are big August/September bloomers that I could love as much as the lilies, but so far, nothing has really caugt my fancy. I was thinking of holding some bulbs for a month or so and then plant them in pots for a later bloom season. Does anyone have any good infomation about the time it takes from spring planting to bloom on the various types? I should start keeping better records. The Shirleys I put in pots in May last year, bloomed on July 7th. So the asiatics must be about 60 days. If I waited until mid June on an Asiatic, do you think that's enough time for them to soak up enough sunshine for the next year?

Hi Beaker,

As an avid lily grower in zone 5a, I have shared your frustration about the shortness of the lily season, I find that lilies that are supposed to bloom in August bloom in July, but after some searching and talking to members of lily societies I found some answers.

Speciosum lilies bloom much later than the others. In my garden they bloom from August into September. Speciosum Uchida is my favorite, and I get it from B&D Lilies. I typically plant them in mid-April. I think they are going to be available soon.

I also grow lilies from seed. Park has a seed called Lillium White Lancer (on sale now) that is a "formolongi", a cross between a formosanum and a longiflorum. It blooms the first year from seed. It's tender, so I grow it in pots and then throw it in my basement in the winter, giving them a little water from time to time. I do have to start it in January, but I now have six or seven pots of those kinds of lilies and they reproduce and come back better each year. I put the pots out as the weather warms. They bloom in August, September and sometimes into October.

My lilies are still covered. I've had some under pots for a week. The cold has slowed down the emergence of the others. Have a look at your longer term forecast. And watch out for the rabbits.

Donna

Shade can do wonders for cooling, Beaker. Obviously, that's what is happening on the north side of your garage. But also, plant deeper. Although I don't know if you can do that with Madonna lilies.

Formolongi crosses are pretty new in the U.S. I can't say what the specific characteristics of the Lancer group of seed is, but I can say that all formolongi have the propensity to continuously bloom without vernalization (going through a winter). This means that multiple stalks are produced in the same season, but none begin similtaineously. The result is that as the first stalk blooms, another is already coming up. How quickly the "rebloom" is, and how multiple are, would in theory be quite variable. But perhaps Lancer is a stable strain (this term used loosely).

I have some Lilium x formolongi seed from Dr. Neil Anderson at the Univ of MN. Being the lazy man I am, I was just going to start them tomorrow, along with a few other things.

Donna, I had no idea V. carlesii could reach 9 ft! Are steroids legal on plants?

Hi Leftwood,

Sorry for the delay. Just accompanied the spouse to the Boston Marathon and got in past midnite last night..

I must say, I had no idea carlesi could reach nine feet either. It is in an idea location, with morning sun, sheltered from the winds and given perhaps too much love in the form of lots of compost and pruning of the spent flowers, since it does not form berries.

I am in no way a sophisticated lily grower, and only grow from seed, not making my own crosses or creating things, as others have done. I actually got most of my seed fom the North American Lily Society. They sell it to me for $1.00 a pack. I choose formosanum/Longiflorum because they are what's referred to as immediate epigeal (lily talk for they germinate very quickly). All of the following bloomed the first year from seed started in January, starting in July and continuing through October, even in zone 5. They are all dormant in pots in my basement:

Lilium x Formolongi White Lancer (Parks)

Longiflorum Hybrids - 54-100 - Longiflorum, Lorina x Formolongi, OP (w. White Fox, L. formosanum, with self) (NALS)

Lilium, 94-146 - L. Formosanum, early flowering from NALS 91-241? select plants (NALS)

Lilium Species division - 94-229 -Longiflorum White Fox (w. White Emporer Explorer, formosanum, or self) (NALS)

Lilium Species division - 94-147 - L. Formosanum, very early flowering from NALS 92-225 select plants, (NALS) one opened package in stock (particularly vigorous!)

I have the seed but haven't yet grown:
L. candidum ‘Cascade Strain’ - 96-119 McRae
L. formosanum ‘Ingram’s Dwarf’ - 96-133 McRae
L. formosanum, HP, a nice medium height form (~130cm) - 96-134 HuntPA
L. longiflorum (strain) x L. longiflorum (strain) (IE) - 96-158 Adams SP
L. longiflorum,’White Fox’ x self (IE) - 96-160 RUMKPA
L. Formosanum var. pricei X Longiflorum OP 56-100 from a group of 2-3 select hybrids growing together Chamfr
L. Formosanum var. pricei X Longiflorum 56-101 similar tips fade when flowers open Chamfr
[(L. formosanum x L. longiflorum) x sib] x sib 56-104 Adamsp

The name of the person is the last item McRae is the great Ed McRae.

They are no more difficult than starting any other seed. The candidum I'm not sure about - I'll have to see. But it is such a joy to have liles so late in the year - and since they live their lives in pots, very little work!

Donna