Question regarding new bed: how do you mark where you have planted a lily so you don't disturb it before it pops its little head up? I cleared an old bed, amended the soil and plan to plant a variety of plants which include lily bulbs. I need a clever method to mark where I've put them so I dont' disturb them. Suggestion appreciated. I have about 30 lilies to plant.
Carolyn
...and while we tap our feet waiting for spring...
I use colored golf tees, placing one on the edge of the filled-in hole. I always put it on the north side so I remember. Someone might have a better idea though. I have a lot of new beds, so had to do something!
TxGrandviewCN, I use plant markers. You can get the plain old white ones at stores like Walmart. Or you can order fancier ones online.
Donna
Carolyn, good thinking ahead! For some reason, seems like lilies are the worst for me forgetting exactly where they are and slicing into them. In some areas I'm planting a groundcover over them to remind me not to dig there when they're dormant.
Neal, what are good groundcovers?
I like various sedums around some, and have used purple and white lamium in the past and the silvery foliage was a nice contrast. I've grown some lilies through ajuga too and that was tidy and neat looking. This year I'm trying some with catmint, not really a groundcover, but I think the low mounds of cool gray foliage and blue blooms will make a nice, airy companion. Another ground cover I like is plumbago, but I've never grown lilies through it, and believe I'd like to try that.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/7899/
I've been considering sprinkling seed of annual babies breath on top after planting some lily bulbs, ooohh, or perhaps alyssum (just thought of that one!).
All of those sound great. Got to look up the lamium though. I'm not familar with that one.
Creeping Phlox and Candy Tuft might work too then Ohooo Babies breath and alyssum, yes, I have those seeds.
Oh, good thinking on the candytuft and creeping phlox! They're evergreen, so a good permanent reminder where the lilies are. They both enjoy the same well drained conditions that lilies do too. I like being able to get a spring show followed by a summer show in the same spot too.
Thank you so much for the wonderful suggestions. Still pondering, not planting so I'll sleep on these ideas. Love the candy tuft suggestion, can't get enough of that stuff.... but sadly it's hard to find around these parts. Humm, wonder if I can divide what little candy tuft I have or if it can be grown from seed? I'll add this to my ever growing project list - look up candy tuft (seed or division). Thanks again.
Carolyn
Carolyn, I wintersowed candytuft last winter and it's budding now! I've never had luck with a bought plant, but these look great. I think you may be able to root cuttings too.
do orienpets come up later than asiatics? my last years asiatics are returning but i don't think the orienpets are up yet.
Thank you gemini-sage. While I'm reading your post it occurs to me I could sow seeds next fall/winter, maybe I'll lean toward an annual planting of something to hold me over until next fall. Something to think about.
Carolyn
Just chiming in, if you are talking about the perennial candytuft, you can layer them while in the garden. Just strip some of the leaves off a few stems on the outside of the plant. Lay those stems, still attached to the plant, where the bare spot is on the soil and hold it down with a rock or with a landscaping pin. (I've used pieces of coathanger wire bent into a U shape for this). Do it in the very early spring. Sometimes it helps to score the stem where it meets the soil, but it's unnecessary. I also cover that part of the stem with soil before pinning it down. If you are lucky, they will be rooted by summer. If it doesn't work for you, try it in the fall and leave them in place all winter and spring. It shouldn't take that long, though.
this is the stuff I'm talking about:
http://www.herbbasket.net/NewFiles/Candytuft-Comp1-Opt1.jpg
Iberis sempervivans.
Great chime Pixydish! This is how I multiply my woody stem shrubs. This also works with my Veronia Speedwell which I absolutely love. Thanks for the tip and the link!
Carolyn
mamajack, orientals (and orienpets) do come up after asiatics. Not to worry!
Cordeledawg... have you considered Roman Chamomile for ground cover. I have a lot of it planted in one of my beds and it's great. It's perennial... nice green foliage and blooms all season with small daisy like blooms. Easy to collect seed from and propagate.
Donna
I had not thought of that but I think it would do just fine. I love the daisy like flowers too. I'll have to locate some seeds. Thanks for that suggestion, Donna!
revclaus, thank you for setting my mind at ease. this is my first year at returning lilies and it's just so much pressure wondering what is happening to them. lol.
I went through the same thing a few years ago ;-)
aaah, yes, the voice of experience. lol. thank you. it really made me feel better. i am gonna have li-lies. but you know what.....i have rabbits this year. the development has caused them to have no place to go but my yard most likely. and i saw today that my lilies looked as though something had been eating them. will they eat the bloom stalks too?
Quick mamajack, go find yourself some PlantSkyd and get those lilies sprayed. Smells awful, but it works. Yes, those long earred rodents with the cottonball tails will totally devour your lilies.
I wasn't able to enjoy hardly a bloom on my lilies (or crocus or tulips) 'til
I moved out to the country and let my kitties patrol the property for me.
Don't bother with Ropel - it seemed to be a marker for those furry
fiends that the blooms were poised to pop & time to munch 'em all down.
Tam
bless their hearts though guys. am i never to see a gorgeous lily display? they have no place to go and no place to eat any more. my heart is in a quandry right now.
well, mama, figure out something to feed them besides your LILIES!! LOL
Susan
=^..^=
Planting lilies in the woods or a wooded lot...
There is a care home that opened wooded 3-6 acres to the public. There is a trail and the trees are mostly mid-sized oaks, hickory etc. Shady but not like a deep woods shade. There is actually a handful of L. michganese (sp) growing naturally through out. I was thinking of planting lilies here and there for the people at the home. Can lilies survive without direct sun light. I would call it dappled...
Well, I've laid out and started tilling my one new bed in the backyard. It's size will be 24' x 8'. I have a lot of work in store. But I think I might be able to finished preparations tomorrow. I am beat!! I don't have the luxury of a power tiller... so all is done by hand.
Donna
Hi Andrew,
Whorled leaves are an adaption to shadier spots, so anything with that type of leaf arrangement is a good bet for at least part shade. The greater majority of species lilies (including those with scattered leaf arrangement) can take some shade, or even prefer it. Besides L. michiganense, L.superbum should be easy, and of course L. martagon (like we all have surplus of that). L. pardalinum would prpbably do well. Other western North American species with whorled leaves probably won't adapt.
In addition, there are hybrids that will accept shade, just don't know which. A yellow, recurved, pollenless no name that I have does quite well. I can dig you some this spring. See pic below. They do have bulbils though, which reminds me: the common tiger lily (with the bulbils) is shade tolerant.
what's a whorled leaf?
I was wondering the same thing. I'm guessing it's the term used for the way the leaves are postioned on the stem. Sorta like one of those pin spinner toys on a stick that my kids use to blow. Like a five star position on a stem? Iike I said, just a wild guess.
well dawg, i coulda looked it up but i like it better when a person tells me this kind of stuff. cause i can tell if she knows this stuff about the leaf arrangement that she knows a whole bunch more that she might tell me if i act nice. and i'm gonna try to do it. and that's the pure d truth.
LOL
Whorled leaves are arranged in a circle around the stem, then a space, then another circle of leaves, and so on, instead of the typical random leaves all the way along the stalk.
It's good to ask questions. That's how we learn new stuff. Now I hope she explains why is it whorled leaves would prefer shade?
I think the leaf arrangement helps them to more efficiently use what sunlight is present.
Thanks Neal. Ok, I can see how that would work for them. Their leaves could draw light from any angle. Makes perfect sense then, since I'm thinking the same as intercessor says, I have some dappled shade too. I'd like to plant a few lilies under some tall pines. Just read a few post up that my Tiger Lilies may be ok to take a bit of shade. I have a spot picked out near a hosta bed under some pines that would be perfect for me and hopefully ok for the Tigers.
My last home was in the woods, just a narrow, cleared space in a hollow, and my lilies were very happy there. I pushed it with the shade on tougher varieties, mostly Asiatics, but they surprised me with how well they did. At the time,4-5 hours was the most direct sun any part of the garden received, and that was only in a few choice spots.
My lilies last year seemed to do better in the shade than full sun-it is really hot here in the summer in the full sun. I'm no expert, however. This is my first year of returning lilies, and returning they are!
Oh, and I'm staying here til fall! Yippee!
mamajack's playing cute little sister again...lol
Leftwood, all these southern people are talking about lilies blooming. Makes me tired. lol That's a beauty you've got. Is it really the color it appears on my monitor, a kind of a soft butter yellow shading with burgundy spots?
Not blooming now, but...I do have two blooms on my snapdragon that has never died back since being planted in that barrel two springs ago. (candytuft is blooming).
I have a slew of amaryllis coming up... bloom city. Usually they have bloomed by now. Things are moving slower this season, we had some cold that came late. I have a bougainvillea that's blooming very beautifully.
Donna