Kevin,
I can't really help you, as I am in a totally different growing region, however, I know that lilies need a certian amount of cold and part of your problem maybe that you don't get enough cold. Your local nursery should have the best idea for your area and their expertise is usually very valuable. Where I live, planting lilies in Jan is not going to happen unless I use an ice pick.
You may have to dig your bulbs up and give them some cold (put in fridge) to get them to bloom well, just as we in the colder areas have to dig up bulbs and store over winter to keep.
flora2b

Late winter/early spring sales of lily bulbs is pretty common and planting after that time is equally as common :-) The question is vernalization or the required cold period. Most lily bulbs sold in winter/spring have been harvested in fall and kept in cold storage; otherwise, fresh harvested bulbs have spent the winter underground and should have experienced an adequate cold period. But it doesn't have to be all that cold......6-8 weeks at around 45F should be sufficient. Generally, summer flowering bulbs do not require the same degree of vernalization as do spring flowering bulbs but if the climate is too warm in winter, they will not flower well without some sort of chill period, either natural or artificial.

FWIW, I am only a zone lower than you and typically plant lilies in spring for bloom that summer. February is typically when they become available in stores and nursery outlets here. And they are perfectly happy in the ground in winter without additional cold treatment. In fact there are a lot of commercial lily growers in this area :-)

Plant at the same depth.....dwarf lilies do not necessarily have smaller bulb, only smaller growth habits.

Thanks, gardengal! My second-year-plus Asiatics don't seem to require any more chilling than I get normally here. My concern is with the new ones planted each January: their bloom is often up to a month later than the established clumps, which can damage the blooms and stress the plants in our climate. I was wondering if they would be better off planted at, say, Thanksgiving, than a month and a half later. I sometimes wonder if that was the problem with the OA hybrid I tried this year.

As for the planting depth of dwarf Asiatics, that's good news. My life needs to be simpler!

Kevin : )

Okay, here goes! 'Mount Duckling', 'Crimson Pixie', and 'Orange Pixie' going in the ground this coming week. About 6 inches deep (soil depth over the "shoulders") and about a foot apart, correct? Please tell me if I'm wrong before I plant. Whoever heard of such bulb insecurity??!

Deep, slow breaths...
Kevin ; ])

They're in!

Let's see how they do!

Kevin : )

I talked to a lily grower in California Friday, and discovered something interesting. She automatically assumed that I was going to grow them in a greenhouse for potted plants for sale at Easter. Apparently about 95% of her sales are for this purpose. I wonder if current bulb wholesaler lily policy is driven by the greenhouse trade and florists, even though they sell to retail nurseries and home gardeners. Don't the brokers have someone who can tell them about the needs of their other customers? Maybe not: when I call Van Zyverden with a question I can't find the answer to in the books, I frequently have to wait for their single bulb maven in Alabama to come back from vacation! Anyone with more info on the discrepancy between proper lily planting dates and when they are available in nurseries is welcome to post here.

Meanwhile, I'll keep searching.
Kevin : )

The first sprout is showing!! It was marked 'Crimson Pixie', but we all know how often mismarks show up. All of the bulbs in that package already had sprouts protruding 1 1/2 inches from the bulb, so I'm not surprised that it's first. Is that variety known for early sprouting? It looks a little thinner and "sharper tipped" than the average full-size Asiatic sprout, but it's definitely a lily. I can't wait for the others!!

Kevin : ])

'Orange Pixie' and 'Mount Duckling' sprouting now, plus several more sprouts from 'Crimson Pixie'! Still just in the "pinecone" stage, yet.

Kevin : ])