I had no idea they would reproduce at this rate!

Silly me. I thought that LA HYBRID or HYBRID anything meant that it could not reproduce by seed. So after Showboat and Kiss Me Kate bloomed, I did not cut off the seed pods that formed. WELL.....now I have a bazillion little tiny baby lilies coming up at the base of those bulbs' beds. I'm actually kind of excited, but I am wondering if there is anything special I should do for them?

Oh yes, and somehow, by no intentional action on my behalf, I also have a bazillion tiny baby lilies sprouting in two of my pots, which were no where near lilies last year!!

Will these offspring be identicals of the parents, or will they be crosses of my other lilies???? I have LA Hybrid, Asiatic, Oriental, LO Hybrid, Trumpet, Tiger....pretty much all kinds planted in my garden.

Edited to add: This was supposed to have been on the LILY forum. Can a moderator please move it? Thanks, L.

This message was edited Mar 11, 2009 1:10 PM

Farmer,

I am glad you posted here, the Lily Forum is a usually over my head.

Lilies are easy from seed. I planted seed from my L. philippinense & they came up within two weeks. With most hybrids there is no way of knowing if they will be the same as the parents, they may revert. If you have them close to other hybrids you may get new hybrids. The future may hold a pleasant surprise for you.

Down here, in the no chill zone, I have had great luck with the Longiflorum hybrids. I bought several new colors this year. I tried a Longiflorum-Oriental Hybrid Lily 'Triumphitor' (sp?) and it has gotten bigger every year.

Hi Dale,
Thanks for your response. What a gorgeous picture. I was thinking about giving Triumphator a try, that pretty much seals the deal seeing your picture, those are gorgeous!

We have had rain rain rain for the past 3 days, but hopefully by tomorrow it will be clear.

Should I separate the baby lilies and move to new locations? They are massed together with no space between most of them.....or should I just leave them alone this year and separate this fall?

I prefer the fall dormant period for spliting up overgrown clumps.

Have you ever knock off scales? I always plant them, just deep enough to cover the scale. The make a blooming sized bulb in 2-3 yrs - keep in mind we have a really long summer.
I am a big fan of Oxalis too>

MiniPonyFarmer, you're probably seeing baby bulblets sprout that grow just beneath the soil line where stem roots grow. Those babies will be clones of the parents. I've never found a volunteer Lily seedling, and I don't think it happens often, but the way your babies are concentrated around where last years stems emerged indicates they're likely to be be stem bulblets. Many Lilies increase vigorously, and I've found LA hybrids to be some of the most prolific. You can wait a couple of years before dividing, or you can take the babies and set them out in a nursery bed- they'll usually reach blooming size in a year or two.

Dale - I have also let a couple of my L. phillipinense go to seed and got quite a few seedlings. They were very slow growers, though, until I dug a few out and gave them their own space. The rest that I did not touch stayed very small for two years now. I may try to dig some more out and pot them up separately. The original clump that I planted disappeared one year and never came back.

So, MiniPF, I would definitely separate some of your seedlings once they reach the stage where they can withstand some handling and maybe put them in those 6-packs that vegetables come in, and then go up from there.

Good luck.

Is it Soil sand up or Soils and up? Anyway....

I think L. phillipinense is a short lived bulb in a warm climate. I would guess that is it from a cool tropical area (highlands).

I will take a photo or two of the lilies that are potted up at the greenhouse today. Until then how about a Griffinia, a small tropical bulb>

Dale: Looks similar to agapanthus. Is it related?

Hi Dale,
I have not intentionally removed scales, but I did receive an order of bulbs that had a few loose ones in the package, which i put to bed in a separate growing area.

So you guys think that these babies are going to be true to the parent, and not the result of pollination/seed?

That still leaves me no explanation for the zillions popping up in two large planters which were situated nowhere near the lilies!

This message was edited Mar 17, 2009 8:01 AM

Hi Dale,
You are right on the second one Soils and up - I work in the soil science department, but I like growing plants. hence the name. That is a lovely flower - I have never heard of that one before.

MiniPonyFarmer - the seeds of the L. phillipinense (and the seedlings were true to the parent) that I have is very lightweight - if there was a wind, they can be carried a fair distance. Not sure what the seeds of any other lilies are like and how they may behave since I have only the experience with that one plant.

Here's a photo of my thalia that I took this morning.

Dale first let me say how glad I am that you said what I was thinking about the lily forum. I thought it was just me but kept coming back here and hoping someone would answer her question!!
I planted some lilies last year that I got from the co-op and it looks like some are coming back!! I am excited becasue I know it is really too hot here for them.

Thanks for the explanation on the scales. I thought they were damage pieces from the bulbs and I threw them out last year. I will not do that again!!!
I love the Griffinia, I have not tried to grow that one

This message was edited Mar 17, 2009 1:10 PM

This message was edited Mar 17, 2009 1:34 PM

Hemophobic, Griffinia is related to Amaryllis. http://www.bulbsociety.org/GALLERY_OF_THE_WORLDS_BULBS/GRAPHICS/Griffinia/Griffinia_espiritensis/Griffiniaespiritensis.html

Soils, all lily seed travels on the wind, very light stuff.

Speaking of multiplication (as in rapid as rabbits)>

Now that is a lovely picture!!

Dale - wow - that is one impressive amaryllis stand. How long ago did you plant and how many did you start off with? What is the variety? I planted a few amaryllis that were from the ones that the stores sell at Christmas, planted them in the ground, but they have not really multiplied - just stays alive with one or two blooms a year.

Soils,

Those orange hippeastrum are either a species or an heirloom hybird (also known as a pass along plant). I don't know if you could even buy that type of bulb. That is not my yard, I just happened to be driving past there this afternoon.

Here is a bed of the large flowered hybrids that we have available to us now, there are about a hundred bulbs in this bed, they don't multiply like the old time kinds>

Wow, aren't those gorgeous! Thanks, everyone for your encouragement and support. Here is Ice Follies from yesterday.