Ramona .. is it bending towards the light ? Could that be it ? Was something blocking it from growing upright ?

My lilies only get afternoon sun. This is my first year growing them, and I planted them all wrong. Now I have to wait until after they flower to move them. Anyway, just about every single one of them ( approx. 30 plants ) is leaning due west, toward the few hours of sun they get. Looks kinda funny, 'cause not knowing a thing about lilies, I planted the bulbs in the front of my perennial bed...from a distance, they look like a bunch of leaning, giant grassy weeds at this point. I should have planted them in a sunnier spot 'behind' some low-growing foliage plants.

Hi Mainiac
I'm sure you probably checked, but I have an oriental lily that looks just like that and on close inspection I found a bite munched out of the stem! It was a pretty deep bite so I thought the stem above it was a goner, but its kept growing (the area of the bite has hardened over) and now has turned upwards again. The lily has a decided kink to its stem but otherwise looks nice and healthy.
-Helen

Another thought... mild draught stress due to lack of water can sometimes weaken stems.. have you had a dry spring ?? (probably not .. I mean 6 feet of snow melting should produce some moisture, right??)

No we have had a really wet cool spring. I don't think it is all the leaning toward the sun either, as I am familiar with this. It looks like the stalk just got wilty about 2/3's of the way up.

You could try staking them - maybe use a green one and it will be hidden behind the stem and foliage. I always end up staking my potted asiatics because they have to lean towards the morning sun in my case and the stake keeps them nice and upright and they bloom just fine.

could be overwatering. similar thing happened to my oriental lilies last year.

I have one quite similar to that. It's an oriental. Our spring has been fairly wet and I noticed after a lot of rain yesterday that the bottom leaves are yellowing and falling off. I think it might be too much water and a drainage issue. Guess things vary a lot in this bed -- the other lilies are fine, but there are veins of clay in the bed. Although I amended the planting hole, it may be that it's still just too clogged.

Karen