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Dollar Store Lilies

10 years ago

I tried doing a search but must have been using the wrong terms. I'd be surprised if this has never come up before!

I was given some lily bulbs today that were purchased from a dollar store. They're in the typical bag with peat with a few pale green sprouts and I have no idea what to do with them until I can plant them in the garden. It's been a mild winter, but we have a cold spell on us right now and it will be a few weeks before the soil can be worked easily.

So: Do I just leave them in the bag and store somewhere cool, or plop them in a pot, stick them in the fridge, what? I have lilies that grow fine in my garden, but were all bought as potted plants in the summer or were already in the ground when we moved in. My random musing of wanting to get serious about adding lilies to the garden this year was taken very seriously by my relative, and here I am. A little earlier than expected. Any advice?

Comments (4)

  • 10 years ago

    Pot them up right away. If the bulbs are on the small size, you should be able to get 3 in a standard nursery gallon. Plant them deep enough so that all the green sprout is covered but handle very carefully..........if you break or damage that sprout, your lilies will not bloom this season. Make sure the potting soil is just moist to the touch (do not overwater!) and store them somewhere cool and dry.....the garage? Once they grow enough so that they are now showing above the soil surface and your ground soil is workable, you can plant them out into the garden. You can also grow them on in the container if you prefer but they will need daylight once the sprouts have emerged above the soil line. Protect from overly cold spells in spring if you go this route.

    Just a word of warning - don't expect much from these bulbs initially. Dollar store lily bulbs are not of high quality to begin with and the presence of new growth indicates they haven't been stored properly. Typically this combination of conditions results in straggly growth and often no flowers during the first season. But go ahead and plant anyway. If the bulbs survive, they will grow bigger and stronger each year.

    This link from one of the large lily bulb growers in my area outlines some of the concerns about buying/planting sprouted bulbs. btw, purchasing higher quality, fully dormant bulbs at the proper time of year from reputable vendors - like B&D Lilies - will be much more rewarding and generate much better plants and flowers than purchasing lower grade bulbs from mass marketers like the dollar or big box stores.

  • 10 years ago

    Thanks for the reply. I have pots of soil in the garage that I can stick them in, so hopefully they'll be happy to hang out in there until spring. They won't mind being planted out in chilly soil?

    I don't expect much of them this year, but I'll give them a little extra attention and see if they can pull through and get over whatever abuse they've had. If they bloom true to color on the package, they'll be quite pretty. Not holding my breath on that being accurate, though!

  • 9 years ago

    I planted a few dollar store bulbs last year and this bloomed today. I think it is a sego lily variety but not sure. A lovely surprise!

  • 9 years ago

    OGT - your plant is Tigridia pavonia. It isn't in the genus Lilium so not a lily.

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