Oriental lily "Mona Lisa"

I planted an Oriental Lilly, "Mona Lisa" two years ago. It flowered the first year but it has not flowered for the subsequent two years. The plant grows and leafs out, it looks healthy and robust but there are no flowers. What did I do wrong? Is there any way to fix this for next season? I live in lower New York State near New York City.

Thanks, jimwaddell

Does it get enough light? it should have 8-10 hours of full sun

Do you fertilize? lilies don't need much nitrogen - too much will cause vegetative growth and suppress flowers.



This message was edited Jun 20, 2008 6:29 PM

Thanks elfeik,
You may have the answer. The Lily is planted on the north side of my house. I think that there is about 5 hours of sun there. Other lillies seem to do well there but that one doesn't. I will move it to a spot that has more sun.

Thanks again, jimwaddell

You should also check that you are burying the bulb deep enough so the real winter cold/frost cant affect the bulbs, when you plant it in the new situ, give a good handful of an organic fertiliser like blood/fish and bore meal so the bulb gets some food where it need it to bulb up a good strong storage for the flowers to form, dont cut off the foliage as it dies down naturally, this also helps feed the bulbs, be careful when you dig up the bulbs as the scales (like an onion can fall away and weakens the bulbs, good luck. WeeNel.

Bloodmeal is 12-0-0 (nitrogen) and that's not the problem since he says the lily plant is growing. Some bone meal or a little slow release 10-20-10 (or a similar balance) would help flowering

We buy our bone meal already mixed as Blood/fish and bone meal here in UK and I use it on all my perennial plants/ bulbs/ and tubers, even some veg, it is purely organic, slow release and cant harm the roots like some other fertilisers do, but it is really a matter of what type of soil you have to start off with that dictates what is required, I would give it a try as there must be a good reason why the bulb is growing blind, blind being growing well but without flowering, as it flowered for the first year, it shows it is capable of flowering, so I would still move it to a better position and give it a feed or a mixed form to try get it to build up more energy for flowering. best of luck whichever way you go. WeeNel.

I am new to lilies this year and the garden center told me that there is a bug that eats the bud but I don't know which bug, my lilies are doing great but I want to move the to a sunnier area. Is it okay to transplant in the summer? I know I should wait to fall, but I have some in pots that I'm going to transplant and they said that's okay, so I wonder about the others that were originally planted earlier in the spring.

I have heard that Aphids will get on lilies, but i've never had any problem with them.

As far as transplanting wait until a month after flowering for best results

Hmmm. How long do they bloom?? I understood, quite a while. My Marko Polos are blooming and so heavy they are laying on the ground. I'm thinking sun would help. Right or wrong??

lilies bloom two weeks to a month -

Sounds like you need to stake them.

there is a bug that all Lily growers hate the sight of, it's called the Lily beetle, you cant miss it, it is about the size of your small finger nail, bright red in colour and if you dont find it and it has visited your lilies, then you will notice black soft deposits on your foliage of the lilies, this is the eggs of the young, the beetle and young eat the foliage and the buds, the best treatment is to find the beetle and stamp on it as they can destroy ALL your lilies, the grubs even eat the bulbs, it looks a really lovely insect, but boy, does it kill your bulbs all in one season, I personally have killed 2 adult beetles this year and found signs of the grubs on one plant, so if like me you notice them, act fast.
as for moving your lilies that are in pots, you can do this more or less anytime from spring to early autumn as you will plant the contents of the pot without too much root damage, but for bulbs in the ground, it is best to do this after flowering and as the foliage starts to turn yellow, this condition tells you the bulbs are going to sleep till next year, dont cut off the foliage as this is feeding the bulbs and giving energy for flowering the next year, wherever you replant the bulbs, add a handfull of feed to the new planting hole so next spring they will get a good start as they emerge from their winter sleep, this year as the foliage dries or turns brown is the best time to tidy away the greenery and mark where you planted the bulbs as the growing tips are easy damaged when you start to work the beds/soil in spring next year. some taller Lilies do need staking with a garden cane as the large flowers cant be supported by the foliage, watch you dont ruin your clothes with the heavy pollen. good luck. WeeNel.

Gosh, such good advice, thanks all! el, I did stake them, whew, did they ever need it. I thought they had too much shade, but, good grief, anything growing/blooming like they are, must be pretty happy. So, we sat a fan on the deck to draw the fragrance to us as, mercy me, how wonderful. Mona Lisa started blooming today, she is a beauty and, oh, so fragrant too. WeeNel, so far, we've seen no pests, but if I do, I will refer to your post. Oddly, we've had a wet season thus far, but few pests, EXCEPT ants, which are really the only pests that have done real damage to our garden...

This is a mystery to that may not be a mystery to you experienced gardeners, my "Mona Lisa" started to bloom last year. After three years of growing only leaves it has had lots of magnificent blossoms for the past two years. Go figure???

Thanks for everyones help. Jimwaddell