Wow. Nice lily and scilla.
I have never forced any bulbs. Partly due to laziness and partly to lack of resources (space, light, and so on).
I only keep non-hardy things in pots such as cute small succulents.
I am trying to cut back on those too and focus more on stuff that does well in the garden. Tired of having pots over pots at every window each winter.
Well, seeds, that's another story. It's a MUST

I used to force a lot of small stuff here--crocos, mini daffs, paper whites, hyacinths, dwarf tulips, you name it. I'd pot them up in smaller pots and then stack them in covered 50 gallon plastic tubs outside for the chill and then force them as I guessed the timing to bloom. But now, lilies have taken over most of my time and space in one way or another. It was a lot of fun, tho; especially having the hyacinths filling the house with their fragrance at right about this time of year too.

Another type of force/control I use with lilies is to refrigerate bulbs until mid/late July and then plant for a nice blooming in late Sept/Oct. They only get about a months worth of growth afterwards to replenish the bulbs but it's enough so they still put up a few flowers the following Spring.

Golly, what a difference a day makes with the weather around here--I got about 10 inches of heavy wet snow yesterday afternoon and last night. This is a picture of a mugo pine, now about one half its size in a pile of broken limbs and those very picnic tables I was mixing dirt on just 2 short days ago. 34'F and light steady rain now. Edit: difficulty uploading picture in edit

picture?

Let's see if this works--


That's better. Thanks, Moby.

Leftwood said:Well I've never forced lilies, but have taken a crack at many other things. This year, Scilla litardierii, from seed. Pics taken 23 January 2013.

Those are really pretty. I am impressed that you grew them from seed.

Rick, is there a lighter version (almost white with just a hint of blue) of this as well? I think I have both as well as a real dark Siberian Scilla (squill). You get lots of seeds from which they colonize very well. I got my start from seed. Some how some seeds must have been carried to a well hidden, protected road embankment quite nearby. When we found it, it was about a foot in diameter; we watched it grow to an irregular diameter of about four feet. Then, late last spring when they were flowering,, someone who evidently knew what they were after, went and dug every last one of them, which was the only time they could do it--they are so well hidden otherwise. Sad! Anyway, I've got mine growing along the south side of railroad cross ties in light sandy loam right along with crocos. They flower much later, of course. And occasionally one or two will show up here and there in my other gardens. I'll send you some pics of mine when they bloom.

I think you meant Mugo pine?

There are lots and lots of different scillas. In fact the genus is now divided into 3 or more genera. Lorn, you might be identifying correctly, but take into consideration that this was the first flowering and inside the house, too. . I've not heard of an all albino form of S. litardierei, but I don't doubt there is one, just quite rare. A near white variant could be more likely. However, I've never seen S. litardierei ever offered as bulbs anywhere except very recently. Just for your information, too, this one normally blooms in the spring, rather than the early fall.

I've also learned to always research species identities once plants mature, especially when grown from seed. They are not be what they claim to! So far, this one does seem to be true to name...

Well, you're probably correct Rick, most likely mine are the more common ones even tho they were stated as 'wild, rare, etc'.. This is an area I'm not real knowledgable with. I'll tree mail some pics when they bloom. Thanks for the info. .

That is a very sad 'lump' you have out there, Lorn.

Reminds of the demise of my mugo pine but it was only about an inch of snow that took it down. I don't think their roots are very deep.

It was beautifull, but it was getting too big and dominating for it's location. I was planning on replacing it in the near future with a dwarf flowering crab of sorts, anyway. But, each Spring when we discuss it, we decide to leave it for another year--you know how that goes.

Thanks all. Should I keep them in the fridge until potting?

Thinking of spring. I just ordered 4 o'clock tubers from Easy To Grow Bulbs. I have ordered those tubers there before and they always do well for me. I like four o'clocks. I have some each year that self sow but I want to plant the tubers in some spots where I want those 4 o'clocks to be growing for certain.

Oh, I didn't know the mugo pine broke, Lorn. Not knowing what it looked like before, I don't see any evidence.

All Chamaecyparis spp. (False Cypress) are incredibly flexible. Pines, not as much.
These are pics of normal snowfall and no damage whatsoever.
Chamaecyparis thyoides 'Heatherbun': This winter and what it normally looks like (couple years younger) on far left of pic.


Chamaecyparis thyoides: a few winters ago and the following growing season.


Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Squarrosa Lutea': a winter past and normal look (a couple years older) on the right.

Hi Rick: Yes, I guess it would be hard to visualize for somebody with a lot of knowledge of pine because as you said, these are extremely flexible--so much so that one can almost tie the limbs in a knot. So, one has to ask himself: how can this be then? But there is a weakness; that is when the load becomes excessive the limbs begin to tear away and peel down from the main stem or trunk. All the cascading limbs you see here were all between 60 and 90 degrees upright (candlebra). And with all those new tiny branches in groups and long needles, they tend to catch and hold the real pasty snow rather than shed it as other long needle pine like 'White' or 'Norway' pine do, as an example. True, they do flex over and downward, but they catch and hold the snow from that angle too and it just doesn't slide off.

This particular one is the last of five that I planted in !982 around the patio. The other four were also damaged over the years from heavy wet snow and removed. With some of those, I tried tieing some limbs back in place and sealing them with grafting wax and grafting tape and staked support but I was only successfull on one limb. I should add, this particular example has had previous snow related damage as well.

I'll post or send you some pics when the snow melts off and I can get some good shots.

Leftwood said:
All Chamaecyparis spp. (False Cypress) are incredibly flexible. Pines, not as much.

I wasn't doubting you at all.

This is the type of failure that I often see with Mugo around here. The second photo shows a different kind of break, one I hadn't seen happen before. There are several like in the first picture.

I am patiently (ok not so patient about it) waiting for spring. Still too early here to do much of anything in the garden. Meantime I am still working on my weight loss and exercising.

Think Spring everyone! Daylight saving time starts in another week and the first day of Spring is barely 19 days away. Can't wait to get out there with pad and pen again! In the meantime I'm couped up inside with the Flu and with a bad case of Spring Fever to boot. I did manage to plant a few baggies. of seeds--mostly Buggy's open pollenated Trumpet seed mix--I like surprizes.

I like surprises too. I need to get busy and get some seeds started but must be real selective due to space available. I just got over the flu so am behind in everything. So much for the flu shot this year .