No, they won't come back next year if they aren't there this year.

Various things can kill them -- drought, flooding, disease. Or, as happens to mine all too often, they become a tasty winter snack for a vole.

Ha! That was a joke, but thank you.

I've never seen a vole but there are squirrels here. This is the first time I've had a stargazer lily disappear either here or in OH.

I guess these are just later to show up than I remembered. Two of them are poking up now.

Very late, mine have been up for a few weeks here in zone 6. Of course, we have been unseasonably warm here.

Thanks, ngraham. I had such a strong feeling that these should have been up by now. With everything blooming so early, I'm glad they're late. Starting to wonder if anything will be blooming in a few months or if it will all just be "tuckered out!"

I have had many of them and related Orientals peter out here over the years. I spoke with the owner of The Lily Garden recently and she said it wasn't anything I was doing wrong but their nature. She advised that the Orienpets and the species like rubrums and hybrids like 'Black Beauty' are much longer lived garden plants.

Thank you. These were just clearance bulbs from WM or L's, so I doubt they have a name. I like their smell and no matter how hard I try not to, I get pollen on my nose a few times a week sniffing them. I could have sworn I've read posts complaining about these multiplying weedily. Likely that was something else or common-name confusion.

That is strange because my experience is my Orientals multiply. I do fertilize with bulb booster after they bloom and everything gets Miracle gro through the summer when I fert my other perennials.

The mother bub could have died and maybe the babies are what are producing. I have foliage growing on them until fall. I started growing them with bushes to hide the leaves. I read that the longer you have leaves the healthier your bulbs will be.

Aha. The drought we had last summer was really hard on everything. The foliage of these bulbs died back within a couple weeks of the blooms finishing. Although I tried to keep everything watered, some plants just doesn't do well with tap water. It seems I also lost a Plumbago in the same bed, no sign of it either.

As of about a week ago, all 5 of these are back. Can't wait to smell the flowers!

Yes there is nothing like the fragrance of Oriental Lilies. We have been so hot they are early this year. I have 5 planted by my bedroom window and the fragrance is wafting through my window now. Yummy!!!!

Hmm, that makes me feel better about thinking mine were really slow to come up. Not been a southerner long, but most same plants seem to bloom earlier here.

Great idea about planting them to waft fragrance. I've been trying to get some baby Gardenias going from the shrub here to put by other windows. And Daphne.

Not all Orientals are short-lived. I have several that have lasted for at least 15 years. Perhaps not the original bulb, but its daughter bulbs. Among others Journey's End and Nymph

This far south it helps to move the orientals farther into the shade. When the heat of the summer sun blasts them, they just can't handle it like the asiatics and orienpets can.

Also, double up on the compost to help with water retention.

I love the look and smell of the orientals, but they are a challenge to keep going in our hot climate.

I've got some under the shade of my live oaks that are seven years old now, so it can be done.

Billums and Wies, thanks for the input. Already decided to move these when they are finished blooming, that will help me decide where. I've planted other things near where they are that are too tall around them now, and sounds like they're in a bit too much sun anyway.

You're welcome. Orientals are so pretty they are worth the babying and extra effort they require in the deep south.

Also, if you have heavy clay like most of us in this area do, you have an extra reason to amend the heck out of your soil for the more fussy types of lilies. Finding a balance between water retention and good drainage in clay soil under trees requires tons of compost.

The Houston Chronicle's garden writer also had a good write up on lily cultivars that handle the heat well. She mentions 'Triumphator', 'Red Alert', 'American Revolution', 'Salmon Classic, 'Royal Trinity,' 'Royal Sunset', 'Brunello', 'American Eagle', 'Ceb Dazzle' and 'Alladin Dazzle'. The comments section has other gardeners chiming in with more heat tolerant selections.

I grow 'Red Alert' and 'Salmon Classic' and I can testify that they both multiply like crazy for me even in dry shade.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lilies that Like Us!

Just popping in to say how insane these plants are. Last week they were visible enough to dig and move - and this winter has been extremely mild but long, with 3 nights of frost right before Easter. Hope they like their much more prominent spot in the front yard! Only we could see them where they were.