When to move lily bulbs (Asiatic & Oriental)

I have lots of lily bulbs in containers (I find it most reliable way to grow them in our shaded moist rainforest at coast)

some are Asiatic (bloom around end of June — no scent)

Others are oriental like stargazer and Casablanca

——

the leaves have all died back and the stems are brown

QUESTION 1. do you think I can dig up now and repot now?

(the reason for doing this is to consolidate to make less pots - I suppose one would say I have an overpotulation of containers in the small patio )

Question 2. do I use any bulb food on them now ? Which numbers ?

thank you

 

There's no point in feeding when the bulbs are dormant, feed them when they're actively growing. Like you, I grow lots of lilies in pots and I re-pot them every couple of years or so. This would be a good time of year to do that. It allows you to see the health of the bulbs as well as harvest bulblets growing around the base of the bulb.

 

Thank you for your info

i do see the « bulblets » (look like tho smaller than a clove of garlic)

do you put those bulblets in separate pots ? That must take a long time to make a flowering bulb, yes?

sidenote: my various hostas in patio containers are all done — wet soggy leaves which I carefully removed (no scissors necessary — they are soggy like wet paper towel). This autumn went by quickly!

 

The bulblets are best planted in a separate pot. When the bulblets sprout coming spring they'll show as leaves, no stem until the bulb starts to develop scales, you probably won't see any flowers until year 3.
Make sure your hosta pots don't get waterlogged, I keep mine in a sheltered area, particularly pots smaller than 2 gallons.

 

i am curious which lily names you grow

i do like the scented lilies like Casablanca — tho I have a whole series starting with asiatic around end of June

I shared photos In virtual garden tour thread

The incredible heat in 2021 June-July did them in quite quickly

tho in rainy times (like it used to be 2nd half of August, just as PNE starting :) lilies, as delicate as they appear, are amazingly resilient i notice

even wind off the ocean seems ok

as beautiful as Casablanca et al are

the first photo below is a red / white mix for i think Canada 150. And yes it blooms around July 1st

One of the lilies I highly suggest is Black Beauty

it is very tall
And has a slight scent
Yes the leaves are large and messy in the autumn but east to tidy up

the short little pink one might be Playtime or similar name —- maybe Lollipop?

i swear each year I will improve my labels — well, I think about it

 

When I have access to my desktop computer later today I'll post some of my lily pictures. Indeed, 'Black Beauty' is one of my faves as well!

 

I have a question related to lilies but not worth its own thread.
Many years ago a regular contributor to Gardens West magazine sometimes mentioned what I think she called "Columbia Platt" lilies she grew in the BC interior. I've tried before to find out more about them and have only been able to determine they are not the native Lilium columbianum because the lilies she talked about came in different colours (I think).

 

A quick scan of the Pacific Bulb Society's wiki doesn't appear to show any forma or variety of Lilium columbianum but there would appear to be some variance in colour, as is to be expected I suppose when a specie is this widely distributed. A Google of the name reference given doesn't bring up anything useful. Perhaps a quick gander through some old GW copies is warranted, it's raining anyway, you're not likely to go gardening....

 

While it definitely is not among the first lilies to break the ground in the spring, invariably the first lily to flower for me is Lilium pyrenaicum, a species. This picture is from June 13th. I got this, near as I can figure, in 2009 from my youngest brother, who lived in Surrey at the time. He and his wife now live in Black Creek and it was one of the ones that didn't make into their new garden and I was happy to be able to supply them with a couple of bulbs when they were over about a month or so ago.
I must admit a fondness of the various scented lilies, over the years we've had a fair assortment of them and not all of them were too long-lived but I have a handful of OT's that are rather vigorous and multiply fairly readily.
A good many of our lilies have come from Costco and the main problem with them is that the contents of the bags you buy isn't necessarily as labeled. This one is I believe a variety called 'Shocking' but we also have one called 'Red Dutch' that looks frightfully like 'Shocking', it's hard to tell them apart. Both are highly scented, to the point where some might feel they're too much when brought indoors, LOVE 'em in the yard in the evening.
'Black Beauty' is such a wonderful addition, have had it since 2013. I had the all-white version of it as well but it's no longer, fell victim to being over-wintered in a pot with poor draining medium.

 

@Margot —-you know - that rings a bell for me

I read that magazine religiously (it was good)

was it a person in Grand Forks? Creston? Wasn’t it a plant mail order business ?

i think look around about Plateau (not Platt) — but — is platt a prairie term and/or a Washington term

As far as natural fauna - I know there are mariposa lilies in dry well-drained places in BC Okanagan tho are becoming less common (these days due to human land development for grapes and houses etc)

A pale purple color and tall and light silky petals - hence name: butterfly (mariposa Spanish language i think)

Next are Camus

And also the orange tiger lilies (insert Latin name) usually higher up the mtn slopes in cooler areas

we commonly see the aforementioned MARIPOSA in areas that hasn’t yet been trampled by range animals (as much as we appreciate the cattle)

you’d see mariposa around ponderosa pines near where balsamroot flowers occur in May springtime - I would estimate July bloom

In spots near the usual Okanagan bunch grass and rattlesnakes (serious about that)

Columbia Plateau, Washington | Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest

 

Thanks for your comments @Georgia Strait. It is very disappointing to realize how much of the original flora in BC has disappeared over the past 150 years or so in our determination to build, build, build. Many people who relocate here to Vancouver Island are so swept away by the beauty of mountains and water and beaches that they don't even notice the beauty at their feet, continuously destroyed to construct ever more houses for ever more people.

 

I'd be interested in pictures of those so-called Tiger Lilies. The 'official' Tiger Lily is Lilium lancifolium (aka Lilium tigrinum) and it's from China. That's most likely what these are....in my front garden....prolific multipliers...if they are like these then what you're seeing is quite possibly an escapee from someone's garden.

 

I don't remember any details, but I had no particular awareness of lilies until I stayed at an inn in Carmel, CA one year that had lilies growing outside the door. It was all I could do to approach the door and get inside without breathing, the odor was so strong. It was even overwhelming from inside. I can still imagine the smell. Eventually, whenever I smelled something similar, I got to remember how much I enjoyed the trip and appreciate the reminder; now either I have not run into any lilies with such an overpowering smell, or I've come around to liking it.

 

How big a pot do you need to grow a single tall trumpet lily bulb? Could I combine 3 shorter lilies in one pot? Are cheat black nursery pots Ok?
What is the best soil mix to use - would a mix with composted bark be good for drainage? Do you leave the pots completely above ground or partly sunk in soil? If above ground how do you stop them from tipping over?
I have just ordered a bunch of lily bulbs from the Lily Nook in Manitoba - mostly trumpet, oriental and orienpet, because I love the fragrance. They are for my back yard, a location where I've grown lilies before but with only partial success - they rarely lasted more than a year or two before disappearing. I assumed it was because it was too shady and hoped they might do better now that a large flowering cherry tree has died and there is more light. However on reading more, I wonder if the problem was that the soil is too heavy and wet. I assume that growing them in pots would help with that. Can they winter in place in the pots or do they need special handling/protection? Do they need to be regularly repotted into larger pots.
If I'm planting them directly in the ground could I make a trench of looser soil with some bark for better drainage?

 

Your biggest problem with containers is to ensure adequate drainage. Lilies do not like wet feet and if you haven't had success with them in ground than you're likely dealing with inadequate drainage as you correctly postulated. I grow a lot of plants in containers, mostly recycled nursery pots and I make sure that they are out of the rain over winter, particularly the smaller containers. To make sure I have good drainage I add a liberal amount of perlite to a commercial potting mix. I re-pot every couple of years. Lilies are heavy feeders. I'd plant them in the ground and amend the area for a looser soil with better drainage. I'd get them planted quickly either way. While I do have a few lilies in pots they do much better for me in the ground. Bonne chance!

 

Hands down my favourite lily is the Japanese Gold Band Lily. Absolutely spectacular!!