I bought some “sale” bulbs at my local lily society after a lecture. These were leftovers from our annual October fundraiser, which have been in cold storage in a member’s refrigerator for the winter. At $ 2 and $1 each, I thought it was worth a try, as they were all originally from good breeders like the Lily Garden or Lily Nook.

I have NO idea where these are going to go! Last fall’s planted lilies are all marked, but older lilies have no tags to indicate where they might be, and it’s too soon for anything to show above ground. I sure don’t want to kill a valued lily to plant a new one.

I was going to pot them all up temporarily: but it is going to be upper 40’s to lower 50’s next 2 days. If I can figure out a truly safe area, is it better to get them into the ground? I can always put them in my “holding” aka vegetable bed and move them into “good” spots later once I know where everything is.

Another idea is just to grow them in pots for this year. The person giving the lecture says she does that all the time, then just moves pots into prime positions when they are about to bloom. After bloom she moves them
to an out-of-the-way place in the back yard, then stores the pots in the garage for winter.

I wonder if these will bloom at all, though, considering they were held over. I have 3 Night Flyer, each with a tiny nubbin of a sprout. 1 LA Royal Sunset with tiny nubbin, and 4 Pearl Melanie, with 2 inch sprouts (those were basically given to me).

If I do try some in pots:
clay or plastic, and how large a pot for each bulb? I am thinking about putting sand in the bottom to make them heavier. Thanks for your help.