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How do Lily Bulbs work?

19 years ago

Hi All:

I am just getting started with lillies. I have one asiatic right now (Muscadet) and I love it. I want more asiatics but I don't know how lillies work....If I buy bulbs is it too late to plant now? Where are the best places to get them online? There are so many more to pick from! If it is too late for bulbs and I buy potted plants it is ok to move them around until I decide the right spot?

Thanks for the advice!

Comments (5)

  • 19 years ago

    If you can still find the bulbs and they are fat and sassy (that is, stay away from bulbs where the scales are very wrinkled and dried out), by all means plant them now. They will likely bloom later this year than they will once they get established, but lily bulbs never really go completely dormant like other bulbs, so they are ready to throw new roots whenever they get into the ground.

    As for potted plants, the beauty of them growing in a pot is that you can move the pot around as much as you want to test various places in your garden. Try not to be actually planting them and then digging them up often, as the bulbs will increase in size and number better when left undisturbed. Of course, if you plant them feeling OK about the place and it turns out to just be all wrong, you should move them to a better place, hopefully soon settling on someplace more or less permanent.

    Afraid I won't be much help about online sources. My top preference is to buy lilies (or anything, really) in bloom, so I know exactly what I'm getting. To get more unusual things, I will buy loose or packaged bulbs, but, again, I tend to buy those in garden centers so I can see and feel the bulb.

    - Steve

  • 19 years ago

    A few good online sources are B & D lilies, The Lily Garden, and I have heard many rave reviews of Buggy Crazy. I haven't tried them yet as I'm trying not to plant to many new things as I'll be moving in a year or so. Unlike Steve, I rarely buy bulbs from garden centers. The choices around my area are to limited for me. I've found the above named companies to try very hard to depict the colors, etc. accurately.Even buying in bloom does not mean that the lily will perform exactly the same way in your garden. Temperature and soil conditions can affect the bloom color etc.

  • 19 years ago

    BTW, 'Muscadet' is Oriental, not Asiatic.

  • 19 years ago

    Oh no!!! Muscadet is Oriental - not asiatic. I didn't know Oriental was a choice. I thought anything that wasn't a daylily was an asiatic....looks like I have a lot more homework to do. Thanks for the info everyone!

  • 19 years ago

    You can find info about Lilies' types, culture, propagation and more on this site.

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