Moving asiatics

Sorry if this has been answered before -- I feel like I've read a similar question but can't remember when and can't find it. Is it a bad idea to move a couple of fall-planted asiatics now? I'd like to put them in my mini lily garden (raised bed, lots of sun), where they'll do better than in their current circumstances, tucked into a border, contending with bigger plants for light. Not to mention that in their new spot they'd be filling a couple of yawning, empty spaces, and that would make the garden look much nicer. One of them is about a foot tall now, with small buds. The other one is shorter, no buds yet. Thanks very much! Laura

Very carefully....

Dig very deep and try not to disturb either the roots or the stalk. Meaning, take a lot of the surrounding soil with you to the new site. Have the new hole dug before, so you can just plop it in. Water in well.

Good luck

Thanks, Beaker. I will follow your instructions. I'm just as nervous about disturbing the bulbs and stems in the bed I'm moving the lilies into. Few of my fall-planted lilies came up where I expected them to. A few minutes ago I found an asiatic that I'd given up hope for, poking through the undergrowth of a big meadow rue, a good 18 inches from its plant marker. How does that happen? How far from the bulb, laterally, could the stem have meandered underground? Did the bulb move? How to think like a lily?

Personally, I think some of those bulbs have tiny sneakers.

Some lilies propagate along runner roots, so some do travel. I'm not aware that asiatics are like that, but I do believe you. This has happened to me and for the life of me, I can't figure out how that bulb got from point A to point B. Just one of those lily mysteries or maybe a marker got moved.

Some folk have said they think some of this movement could be caused by critters digging up a bulb and replanting the leftovers elsewhere. Might explain why it didn't come up the first year.

I think you're on to something with the 'little sneakers'. I have many stray lilies, leaving me to wonder to which clump they belong.

I just planted these bulbs in the fall, and so far there's just one asiatic stem per bulb. The markers could have gotten moved a little, but not that much, so I'm going with the sneakers theory. In any case, I hope I didn't plant a lily bulb right in the middle of a meadow rue, which grows to six feet tall. We've had problems with squirrels, which is why I put chicken wire over all my new bulbs. I wonder actually if the chicken wire doesn't force the lily to meander on its way up, just to find an opening? Have never had voles, as far as I know. The 17 yr cicadas are on their way up, however. Maybe they did the rearranging. They look clever.

I just spent an hour trying to prepare one hole in my designated lily bed. There was a big empty spot and I had to cut through chicken wire before I got to do much digging. That done, I delicately started to dig down and immediately found a bulb with at least six inches of undergound stem growing out of it horizontally. I covered it up in haste before I could see how much farther it went before taking its turn upwards. And I couldn't even determine which above-ground stalk it was leading to. I don't think I hit any bulb or roots, at least I hope not. I sure hope it'll be okay. I'm not moving anything until Fall, I guess. It's too crazy down there.

Well at least now you know it's the chicken wire causing the stem to show up where it did. Is there anything you can do to promote more sun to the stem? Maybe cut back the Meadow Rue a bit?

Yeah, I will cut back the meadow rue. And in the fall I'm getting rid of that chicken wire. Thanks again.