I pruchased some oriental lily bulbs and I got some other type of lily instead. The one I have is not fragrant at all and there's flower per stalk and one stalk per bulb. So, can some one please tell me what they sent me??
Do all lilies plants produce multiple flowers?
Can you post a picture, even if it is just the foliage?
out of town right now and won't be home until 7/26... I was just wondering in general though... cuz all the pictures I'm seeing looks like each lily plant has multiple flowers off the stem and daylilies just shoots multiple flower stems.. Mine just has one stem and only one flower on that stem...
If your plant looks like what you see on this forum then you probably have true liliums. It's a question that has to be asked first to ensure we are all talking about the same plant because there are many "non-lilies" that are called lilies! That said, it is not unusual for the first lily bloom count to be low but there is usually more than one bloom unless the bulbs were small. As the bulbs grow, they will produce more blooms. Lilies put up just one stalk but over time the bulb may divide or produce bulblets that when mature will bloom. I do question whether what you got are truly oriental lilies because they are almost always fragrant and I have never had one that wasn't. This might help a little: what color was it? If it was yellow it is unlikey oriental, more likely what we call asiatic. This group has little or no fragrance.
pardalinum, I know it's not oriental. Everyone in the neighborhood agreed that it's not oriental lilies too. It's a light yellow and white blooms, not descript in color and no fragrance what so ever. No speckles or anything. And, apparantly, I bought it from a rather disreputable company. That was their third attempt to send me bulbs.. The only shipment that had healthy bulbs (not rotten beyond belief) but the wrong ones.. Wish I found DG earlier...
Not to worry ~ we've all been there and made bad purchases from not-so-great places. Stick with us and you learn of all kinds of new places to get your goodies. :)
Moby... I already used the GardenWatchdog. I purchased two miracle berry plants from TopTropicals. They came amazingly well packed. Didn't loose even one leaf. Came in perfect condition and right on schedule too. So, you bet I'm going to be using the Watchdog again.. Amex is never leave without it, we should be never shop without it.
Well, that probably explains why it had just one bloom. Maybe next year the ugly duckling will be a swan. I once ordered the trumpet lily "Pink Perfection" from a disrep. company and it bloomed looking like the Longiflorum-asiatic "Kiss Me Kate" except the flowers were scrawny every year with no improvement. I finally came to the conclusion that it was some hybridizer's reject that should have been composted!
That's probably what's going on. The flower aren't very big and very very insignicant. And only one at the top of the stem from each bulb. Live and learn... Sad really considering the money that I'm out and that I lost almost two growing seasons...
Lcosden, I too, am learning the mantra "Only buy lilies from people who live and breath lilies." I'm notorious for buying "special" collections from places that I shouldn't. They were really nice size healthy looking bulbs, just not who they were supposed to be. Someday I'm going to have an orphan lily bed and they can all live happily there. :) I've reformed, in the future I will only buy bulbs from Buggycrazy, Faraway Flowers and other reputable lily bulb sellers. No more garden porn or big box stores for me.
I wouldn't think about buying a hosta or peony from anyone who doesn't live and breath them, so ... I'm getting better about my lily purchases. :)
Diann
Hostas and peonies are or can be a little bigger investment. But a no-name lily still can have a pretty face for a couple bucks. (provided she doesn't come with STD's)
Moby... that's so horrible.. flowers.... flowers.. geez.
Yeah... I learned my lesson. Seed places for seeds, tropical specialty for tropical plants, etc. Live and learn..
-Lindy
Icosden - I think everyone has bought from bad companies & learned the hard way. I purchased cheap Trumpet lilies - none grew. The company replaced them and the new ones - never grew. So follow all the great advice that is being giving. I learned from reading all the responses that have been given you and I'm now in the line for Buggcrazy-
hope that's the spelling.
LOL OK, you guys are new and aren't familiar with my off-center sense of humor.
Lily "STD's" = Sucking-insect Transmitted Disease aka lily viruses. ;)
lollll.... That's a good one. Never would have guessed that. ..
dlefferts, I just checked out that buggycrazy place. It looks awesome.. Think I'll be checking that place out too.
--Lindy
Moby & Victorgardener - everyone - what a great sense of humor. I just love some of your responses.
"Garden Porn and STD's" LOL! I had a ton of asiatic seedlings this season fairly immature and they only had one bud atop each stem. Next year will probably be a few more and then the following display should be ridiculously full.
Unfortunately, the ones that I bought were not seedlings, not to mention that I bought oriental bulbs not asiatic bulbs.. And it was their third attempt. All previous attempts, they had sent rotten bulbs.. Live and learn...
Would you consider giving us the first letter of the name of the company?
I'd take a guess at M or V.
And if you choose not to tell us who it was, I sincerely hope you at least gave them a bad rating in the Watchdog...
Pirl & Ticker..
Think you're opening up a can of worms here... If you looked at my threads, you would have realized that it was DirectGardening. They send rotted bulb mash, then dried hollow shells, the soft moldy bulbs.. I put fungicide on the last ones I got and tried planting thoses.. 5 out of 16 grew. And to top it off, the bulbs that grew were not oriental bulbs.. I am so upset with them.. I gave up cuz I already lost 2 seasons with them.. I could have had some nice flowers by now... **sigh** Live and learn..
Wish I was in close to Wandaflowers in Cedar Rapids, IA. I would have headed over to get some to replace the perpetually empty patch that I've got... Hard to start your garden when the things you order all arrive dead or rotten.. Yes I order a ton of stuff from that place... And the only things that grew were those 5 bulbs and 2 hen&chicks. All the rest, died.. So much for their "dormancy", think it's in permanent dormancy. Oh well. Gave them a bad rating on the Watchdog and hope other's don't fall into their trap.
Now, don't you wish you didn't bring up the subject...
Lindy
Regardless of who it was that sent mislabelled and clearly inferior bulbs, it's just a shame that any company would choose to operate like that.
I've had some suspect bulbs from some local purchases that were poor performers but haven't purchased any orientals from catalog or internet yet. I think I will be trying Buggy Crazy and The Lily Garden this coming season. It's much easier to have confidence in the seller if you know that growing lilies is what they DO, not just being a middle man broker. I'll probably keep an eye out for some co-ops as well. Usually the hosts make good choices of vendors. I mean really, who wants to deal with a bunch of unhappy DGers:LOL:
Hope we both have some better orientals in the future:)
Lindy,
Too often we all forget to check Garden Watchdog and make similar mistakes. Even some companies known to be reliable send roses during extreme heat spells or mislabeled plants, etc. You performed a valuable service by alerting others to your experience. Thanks.
For every bad mail-order company there is out there they are several good ones and a few great ones. ;) The Watchdog help you find your want with these guys. ;) I'm sorry you got stung. Don't feel too bad, we've all been there and done that. I got nailed by Michigan Bulb the first year I started gardening. Yes, their cheap prices and garden porn seduced me... Heck, I just wanted it to live, never mind if it was labeled correctly. Now, I want it labeled correctly too. :) LOL!
Take heart, you won't fall into that trap again. All tho, I did with Dutch Gardens:) What can I say, flashy pictures get me every time.. Back to the mantra, "Only buy lilies from people that live and breath lilies.. ;)
Diann
Eek! The "M" company of gardening.
I've had exactly the opposite results from Dutch Gardens and have fields of both Asiatics and Oriental lilies, all with correct names, from them. Here's one Red Hot Lily.
Pirl, I hope your Touching from that collection turns out to be Touching. Mine turned out to be Red Hot....
I didn't buy a collection for Red Hot - just a package of either 3 or 6, can't recall. Ticker, please call their customer service department (even send a photo) and let them know: they're excellent at pleasing the customer.
Pirl, I already did and they were very nice about it and are sending a package of Touching this fall. I don't know, maybe they are getting better.
Diann
I've just never had a problem that they didn't correct for me. I can't say that about a few other companies.
Anymore, I'm leaning towards buying from people that live and breath the things I want, like lilies, hosta, peony, iris, daylily.... But Dutch Gardens has their place, they show new folks what is possible and they don't send terrible stuff, unlike Michigan Bulb and those type of companies. For me, I like to think of it as I'm growing up and refining my tastes in gardening. That said, I still twitch when I see their spend $25, get $25 free ads. :) LOL I don't even buy from White Flower Farm anymore.
I see your point quite well but still received some very poor plants from one nursery via a gift certificate. Their GW ratings aren't exactly glowing though they pride themselves on being daylily growers.
Michigan Bulb is probably responsible for turning more people OFF to gardening than ON to gardening.
Dunno. This was all last year before I knew about Daves Garden and the Garden Watchdog. After the fiasco, I found DG and learned that DirectGardening was ranked very poorly. No surprise there.. So, like I said, live and learn.
Speaking of White Flower Farm, I live half hour from it. My friend that orders from there went with me last time. She told me that the plants sell for the same price as in their catalogs but if you buy it from the nursery itself, the plants are enormous and healthy. I don't live close to any other place so say for any other company but if you live close enough to the place, it's worthwhile to drive there instead of getting mail order..
Lindy
Lindy, it's funny you should say that. I live about 20 minutes from a Jungs Seed Company store and it always seems they have great stuff there. Have ordered (why, I don't know) from the catalog and was very disappointed, as if they were totally different places. The store, I'll go there anytime, but the mail order gets thumbs down from me. And again, the prices in both, the same.