Hi all lily fans ...
Im new to growing lilies and like most I can't get enough of it :) I am so ecstatic when my first mail ordered lilies came out the first year i put it on the ground. Didnt think I can grow it with so less effort ... to think my husband has to pay a lot when he orders from a florist..
now my question is - I am planning to move my lilies to a new home since they are getting a little bit too crowded where they are at the moment. I didnt realise when they it said it will grow up to 4-5 ft - it will grow that tall .lol.. I want to incorporate my lilies with a new cottage garden plan I am taking on this year. I live in Zone 8a and some of the lilies are starting to come out. Will it be ok to lift them at this stage and replant elsewhere?
I would appreciate it very much if any one can give me an advice on what and how to go about this. I have never lifted a bulb before and my lilies has been on the same bed going on its 3rd season.
Thanks
Eileen
when to lift bulb to transfer to a new location?
I'm waiting for the answer as well.
A few days ago I moved 6 crinum lillies and they already have a little growth sticking out.
I am not an expert or even pretend to know what I am doing. Just an observation.
Last year I lifted a clump of lilies trumpet lilies that were within ten days of blooming. They were near ornamental grasses with very sharp blades. You will see the same lily on the right of the picture as the left (I moved the ones on the left from the right). They are a little smaller but otherwise fine.
The trick is to take a very large ball of soil and have your new planting location ready. You want to dig completely under the bulbs - try using a shovel. I actually ended up redigging them twice to adjust the depth. If I could move them within days of blooming, you should be fine.
Donna
hi louc, how are they doing so far? .. I am so tempted to do it but it has been crazy lately here in Florida.. some days its like summer and then we get an overnight low of 30's... grrrrr... like last Monday night - i didnt pay attention to the weather forecast and left all my potted plants out in the open and when I woke up yesterday morning there was frost on the ground and my bird feeder water is frozen...
most of the lilies are still dormant - my casa blanca and stargazers are - but some are too eager and they are coming out already - and I haven't even started on my new cottage garden beds yet! so i can't lift them now. I was wondering if I can put them on pots temporarily then transfer them to the new beds when its ready. I dont want to do anything drastically stupid and then regret it later .lol - i am still learning and I know I have learned things the hard way.. and with the economy, I cant afford to replace anything that will be lost because of that :)
thanks Donna,
that gives me a better perspective on what to do... I guess I will let them be where they are until I have the bed ready for them hopefully within the next few weeks..... let it warm already LOL.. Im soooo ready for the spring
Sweetheart, you are learning just like the rest of us....trial and error. You will find the garden very forgiving. Our weather is the same. It was 50 yesterday, 73 today and 50 tomorrow. I don't how it jumps up and down so much. while we are having teasing days I have no doubt that we are not through with at least one more freeze, possibly two. I started gardening in earnest 5 years ago this spring. The last two months I have moved almost every plant. Some got too big, some needed sun, some need shade, we cut down a tree and changed everything as far light needs. Buy lots of seed (they are cheap), prepare the area, and just pitch the seed out like you are feeding the chickens.
Has worked for me. I love the thrill of watching the seedlings push through the soil and since I plant helter skelter I never know what it is until it is fairly large.
Relax and enjoy.
Christi
This is from my window next to my desk, May 16, 2008.
louc , that is so lovely !!!! now that's what my hubby would call chaos :).. he doesn't have an eye for a natural beauty (maybe except when he married me .lol).. he likes everything to be in order almost like soldiers in a row .. 22 years of military I think :)
I, on the other hand would thrive and find it peacefull on such a beautiful environment... i have been dreaming to have something like that - but my DH wont let me cultivate anywhere but the sides of the yard - that leaves me up to 4 ft wide beds :( and no island planting either..and to think we have almost an acre of land where there's nothing growing but weeds (he wants to call it grass) ...
but this year I am putting my feet down and do what I have been wanting to do - a cottage garden where nothing grows but beautiful flowers .... hopefully I will succeed though ... I have been gardening for about 3 years and yet I dont have such lovely garden as yours. I tend to "renovate" (if you can call it that) my beds every year when I think what I did last year wasn't working out. I guess just like you said, its a trial and error .. but hopefully I have learned enough to know what works best for me in this region and will somehow remember to log it down and keep records of it ( now if only my husband can help with that)
and then there's the time of the year when I tend to get lazy and dont want to be out there and get eaten alive by mosquitoes. If there's anything that keeps me from gardening -its the pesky mosquitoes - no matter how much repellent i put on me - they managed to find a skin that was free from the spray...
by the way what is the purple and pink tall flowers called? I love purple flowers :)
Christi, that is beautiful!
Thank you. The pink and purple are giant larkspur. 1 seed pkg of each, probably $1.95 and now they will reseed themselves every year. These need to be pitched in the fall. I didn't even remember them and when they came up I was thrilled. Another that must be pitched in the fall is poppy. Wow! What a surprise and also reseeds itself.
The seed for the poppy came in a free packet from National Gardening.
Such a beautiful color!
I will remember to buy some seeds for fall sowing this year... seeds really makes it cheaper to have a full garden.. I was just always too impatient and wants instant gratification by buying them ready for my garden.
but it's the reason why i rejoined with paid subscription to get more gardening ideas and tips from experts:) i wish I can even get to half of what your beautiful garden looks like ...
Not as difficult as you may think. My first pkg of seed was hollyhock. Another that reseeds itself. Everything for me has been mostly a "stumble upon" (didn't know the first thing and just stumbled upon it, hahaha). Still doing the same thing.
Latest obsession is tropicals and they definitely require a lot of work. Nothing is native here and the freezes wreak havoc.
Christi,
I grew up in the tropics so i know what you mean - it is indeed a challenge to keep them alive when the winter's here. I have a jasmine plant in a container and all the while I thought it was just for the tropics, but it went through a winter ,died and was surprise to see it coming up in spring. Even banana plants seem to prosper here - and they come back year after year ...
ok, i will definitely try sowing perennials this fall... my problem I guess is that I tend to question myself wether or not I know what I'm doing or if I am doing the right thing.. I still yet to learn to accept that plants are probably far more forgiving than any human beings I have known...and they always come with big surprises... LOL
Not all seeds have to wait for winter. A great majority are for the spring.
im confused...lol... ok does it mean I can start sowing some perrenials now too? I thought they need the cold weather to propagate... i think I read way too many how - to instructions from book...
if I sow some perennials now - will they bloom this summer? or it will take another season for it to bloom?
Generally I rely on the directions on the back of the package for guidance as to when to plant.
When will the new bed be ready for the lilies?
Eileen,
When you have a pkg of seed that appeals to you, well, just go to Plant Files. A world of info.
Moby - that's the problem I haven't started yet .lol.. everytime i try to do something on my days off - either its raining or its too cold to work outside or some other excuses I could think of :-) and at the end of the day - I want to kick myself for not doing anything ...
I still have some bulbs that were delivered last year but didnt get the bed ready for fall planting and now its it my fridge since November ... it looks ok though - i hope it will be ok when it goes to the ground
and today when I woke up it was frozen - grrrrrr.... just when I was up to doing something .
I cant seem to get myself to be in a full gardening mode yet - but when I get the right mood - I'm stoppable... lol - Oh well it is still winter , I"m just too excited to do something and mother nature keeps or reminding me it's not yet time
Hmm... the best time to move lilies is, of course, in the Fall. They can be moved any time if you're careful, though the move may set them back a bit if it's done very early in the season. Once they have a fairly mature stem it's not a big deal.
IMHO, the worse time to move them is when they've just started to put a stem up but haven't broken ground yet ~ too easy to break that delicate stem. (trust me, I know!) The bulb will be fine but no blooms for the year. So with that said, I'd wait until they break ground so you'll know exactly where they're at. Then dig much wider and deeper than you think you need to. Try to keep a gob of soil around the bulb.
Later is better so procrastination is good!