Lily woes...Any hints?

Lilies have always been my favorite flowers, and I have wanted for years to grow them. Everywhere I have moved to, I have purchased and planted Stargazer bulbs. I have NOT ONCE seen them even produce a plant, let alone flower! I do wonder if they were coming up the year after I planted them; as luck would have it, I seemed to end up moving the year after planting them each time. If planted in early Spring, do they take a year of dormancy before "showing up"?

I gave up for about five years;then this year I happened to see some bulbs for sale that were "Asiatic Lilies," and were pink (no species on packaging). I read that Asiatics are easier to grow than Orientals (although, as a plant novice, "asiatic" and "oriental" would seem to be the same thing...), so I bought some. I live in a condo these days; my deck and all of my windows are east-facing, and get good morning sun. I planted two bulbs in a pot 11" across and about 9" deep, and three bulbs in a pot 13" across by 11" deep. I planted each bulb 4-5" deep and spaced them as far apart as possible in the pots. Both pots drain well. I planted them in standard "potting soil" and have been allowing them to become moderately dry before watering until the saucer underneath begins to show some moisture. I planted them in late March. So far, NOTH-THING!!! Not even a little green bump poking up through the soil.

What the heck??? Can anybody help me figure out how to get some lilies? I don't have a completely brown thumb; I have "rescued" a Boston fern from a "plant-abusing" (heh) office-mate, and it is now thriving, and I have happy Ficus Benjamina and Philodendron oxycardium (no, NOT POTHOS!) in my house (I don't mention my Chinese Evergreen, because it would be hard for it to be UNhappy!). On my deck, I have a happy miniature blue spruce (my living Christmas tree!) and some blooming, and growing almost visibly, Mandevilla. It just seems to be the lilies, which I want so much, that I can't get to grow!

Any advice, tips, or HELP (!!) would be most appreciated!

Jennifer

It could be you're planting them too late--if you plant them in spring instead of fall I think you need to get them in the ground as early as you can work the ground. It could also be a watering issue--I know if you plant them in the garden they need good drainage so in a pot I suspect it wouldn't be that hard to overwater them even if you're trying to be careful (maybe take one of your pots and dig the bulb up and look at it, that should tell you if they're rotting or not). At your previous residences, if they were planted in the garden it could also have been underground critters like voles, they love to eat bulbs. In pots you won't have that problem, although squirrels will dig bulbs out of pots if you're not careful. Lots of possibilities! Here's a website with some info on planting them, maybe this will help http://www.lilies.org/planting.html

My Hubby planted some one year and they didn't come up...Mom and I dug them out to discover he'd planted them upside down!

Thank you both!!!!

The good news is that I did, in fact, plant the bulbs right-side-up. Ecrane3, I took your advice and dug up the smaller pot (first). Apparently, the pots have been too close to one side of the deck, and have been getting rain as well as my faithful watering, because the first pot was MUD. One poor little bulb was rootless and shootless, like it was huddled up against the flood; the other was bravely trying to send out little roots. Both felt solid, though, so I emptied the pot entirely, refilled it with dry potting soil, and replanted them.

After seeing the first one, I went ahead and took a look at the second pot; not as bad, and one even had a strong root system developed and a shoot about an inch-and-a-half long. I may have planted them too deep; more like 7" instead of 4". I re-planted them too, and have put both pots back on the deck, where they will get sun but not the rain!

I don't know what they will do; I may have to wait until next year. Does anybody have any further advice/suggestions?

Perhaps I will go to my local nursery and buy a lily that is already flowering. That way, I will get to have some lilies while I am trying to be patient with my bulbs!

If they've got roots and some of them have shoots, hopefully replanting at the correct depth in drier soil will help and they'll come up for you. I'm not sure if they'd bloom this year or not though so it may still be worthwhile to buy a blooming one if you want to be sure to have some blooms to enjoy.

I was always told that the majority of tubers and bulbs should be put in the ground in the fall. That way the winter cold will stimulate dormancy and the warming spring will stimulate growth. I have also had fair luck, when planting a bulb in the spring, placing it in the veggy crisper in the refrigerator (48 hours) then wrapping it up in paper towels and placing it in the basement for a day or two to allow a gradule warming. Then pot inside and move it out side at night and leave it in during the day. Once growth is seen I leave it in its final location. Or plant it in the ground depending on where I wanted it to begin with. E-crane have you ever tried this with lilies? I have done this with tulips and hyacinth to force them late and it has worked fairly well. 90% or better of the time.

Fall is usually the recommended time to plant them, but the reference I linked to above said that you can also plant them in spring, you just need to do it early as soon as the ground can be worked. They don't need a ton of winter chill to bloom the way tulips do, that's probably why you can get away with it. Although if you're trying to force them to bloom out of season maybe you could do that same refrigerator trick, never tried it so I have no idea.

Thank you for the help! Perhaps if they can get some growth above ground this summer, they can at least build up their--strength? resiliency? bulb? some, so that they will be stronger next year. Can they overwinter outdoors here, or would it be better to bring the pots indoors in the Fall? (Richmond is, I think, Zone 7; we occasionally get winter temps in the teens). I'm not going to count on anything from them this year, since I have been so hard on them already. Maybe if I treat them better for the rest of the summer and over the winter, I can do better next season.

If I purchase a lily in bloom/ready to bloom from the local nursery, should it be re-potted when I get it home, or not until it has gone dormant for the season? When I buy foliage plants, they are almost always in such a light soil that they have to be re-potted in a slightly heavier mix immediately, otherwise they dry out quickly and have to be watered every day.

One other question: since I have such a limited amount of deck space, is it OK to put more than one type of bulb in a large planter? For example, crocuses for early spring, one of the lilies for summer color, and something later-blooming for late summer/early fall? Would it be too crowded, or would they tolerate it and bloom? (assuming that I keep them out of the heavy rain, so the potting soil doesn't turn to mud, and can figure out the difference between 4" and 7" depth...) :-P

Thanks!

Jennifer

The only problem with potted bulbs is they can freeze/thaw and rot. If you want to store them over the winter wait unitl they die back then dig them up and cover them with peat moss and put in a cool place. Bulbs must go through a period of cold before they will bloom.

If you can get them into the ground and leave them they will winter over and come up in the spring. I just moved an Oriental lily I planted last fall and the root system was HUGE. (I know not the best time to transplant but I need to make room for a new clematis) I planted some stargazer I forgot I had last weekend and it is already doing pretty well. I may not see blooms this year but it will be fine next year.

I planted a pack of 6 stargazers from Home Depot in March and all have grown well with buds starting to form. I can't wait to see them bloom.