Don't know how hardy they'll be in your neck of the woods, but if you have problems with them not coming back next year, give me a shout and I'll send you some corms. They multiply something fierce down here.

Brenda

Thanks for the offer, Brenda.IÂll see first if I can grow them here with the ones I bought.

I checked on DaveÂs garden and the facts for Lucifer (if thatÂs what IÂve got) say zone 6 a. IÂm zone 5 but donÂt know if IÂm a or b. IÂve looked at maps and canÂt tell. (too bad you canÂt see that on Google Earth). I do hope they are hardy, as digging stuff up in fall never seems to happen. ItÂs bad enough I buy dahlias every year.

About planting: When I look at pictures I see them always in stands of many stalks. Does that mean they will look their best all planted together? Have more impact that way?

Yet DaveÂs Garden says to plant them 15-18 apart. Surely they are talking about a clump, not individual corms?

linnea
no worries about the zone.i live just north of montreal and they come back every year..although i only had a few flowers last year,they did return..and i clumped them together for more show...
cheers

I bought 'fire king' last yr from parks. It is too early to say if it survived or not.
They claim it's hardy to 5.

I got some from a Seattle garden that died rather than bloom after winter so some kinds of orange( unknown kind) aren't hardy.

I have also tried them bare bubl in the basement but they died that way too.

Hope to see some nice lily pics from your gardens this year!

Thanks! I remember your lilies too, cheerpeople! I planted some nice ones last fall so I am really looking forward to a great summer. And now I know how to post a picture right into a thread, too!

If you're not sure about hardiness, you could always lift them in fall and store them over winter... or, you could plant them in a large, decorative patio pot and place the pot in the garden. Simply bring the pot in when it gets cold, and store it in the basement or frost-free garage.

You can literally cram the pot full of corms, shoulder to shoulder, and make it the focal point of a garden area.

I do this with a few different tender bulbs and corms. The pots make nice additions to the summer garden, and they bring the potted flowers into play as great colorful focal points.

Lifting in fall is not going to happen. Even when IÂve done it (with dahlias, glads) they never made it over the winter. Also, thereÂs too much other gardening work to do then. They were not too $$ (though I donÂt know really what is a good price) so I will plant them out and cross my fingers. And potted things I need to cut back on, the watering is taking too much time.

But I WAS wondering if there is a hardier strain I should be looking for.

Can anyone address the issue of planting the corms as cluster or spread out?

I lived in Kansas City, zone 5b, and had to grow them in big tubs (from Walmart) - otherwise, they freeze, never to return. They will not come back in your zone.

It mainly depends on the type of soil you have as to wether they survive the winter..... if they are really wet and then freeze they WILL rot. If the soil is well drained and you mulch them for the winter they usually survive. Mine have survived 15F winters with no problems.
Check out my website.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Website

'Lucifer' is generally recognized as being the hardiest at present, and is usually the one seen for sale in my area. I have tried several other varieties, and while they may survive 1-3 years, they have all died eventually. The only one that didn't is 'Lucifer'.