Wow

I wish mine grew that well.

Nice clumps, David. What is better than 1 favorite lily? How about 20?

Dave !
At this point in our season, if we can't see colorful blooms, I'm pleased to see healthy muliplying clumps.
The next bloom season will be rewarding.

Today I extracted 115 bulbs of L. formosanum. 72 Giant form and 43 Dwarf form.


The bulbs were not large, but even this size was enough for flowering. Some bulbs are already dividing:

It is true that L. formosanum can flower from a quite small size bulb (not just var. pricei, but all formosanum). But, I don't think the dividing is normal if you had more than just one or two (- that would just be an anomaly). If you have more, then I think your summer heat is playing a role here, Luka.

Rick, yes, several Giant form bulbs began to split, but not a single Dwarf form bulb (Pricei) split even though some were the same size as the bulbs in the picture. Also no Pricei bloomed unlike the Giant form where almost all had one bud.

That's very telling info. One might normally think that the shorter lived pricei would bloom earlier than the longer lived regular type. It probably means that your pricei form needs a cold treatment.

Giant form is actually not regular type. It's selection of formosanum. They can grow very, very high. I am interested how big they will be next year because they were only 20-25 cm high this year.

It probably means that your pricei form needs a cold treatment.

There won't be much cold here haha. Current daily temperatures are still high for this time of year. 15 to 20 degrees Celsius. At my friend's garden in Istria (where it's a little colder than here) Pricei sometimes stays green during the winter.

Enclosures for seedlings are finished! Now I won't have lack of space for seedlings anymore.


Now I need to buy a shade net and that's it.
Today I still have to make the raised beds I will need in the fall for the trumpet bulbs.

I am hoping some of you lily "experts" can offer advice. We had a bad freeze last weekend (down to 17 degrees). Unfortunately, because of our mild winter, some of my asiatic (and oriental?) lilies had already sprouted and were growing vigorously. They seem to have been hit hard by the freeze, with the stems turned to mush. Is there anyway to salvage these for this year (and the future)? Should I cut off the damaged tops, or let nature do the clean-up?

Hi Lori
My sympathy! I have experienced late frost, damage not quite as bad as yours.
Knowing frost was predicted, I tried to protect my emerging trumpets by constructing cardboard 'tents'.
The cold did damage the trumpet exposed stem & foliage, even with the tents, as seen in the following pictures, but did not kill them.
Notice the lower, leafless part of the stem? That was the result of early frost damage.

Some trumpets were damaged in different ways, like fascination:

Oh Lori, I am sorry about the damage to your lilies. I would cut off the dead portion of those lilies. The damaged area there represents the part of the stalk that would have bloomed this year and does not grow back once damaged like that.

In my experience, many lilies will return the next year after such damage, but some may not.

Yesterday I made my first wooden raised bed. 2.4 meters long, 1 meter wide and 0.35 meters high.

It is not a masterpiece, but it will serve its purpose. In my estimation, I would need at least 10 of these to be able to place all the lilies from the pots and containers in the ground. Mission Impossible.

It looks good Rick and will surely serve its purpose. Congratulations on creating room for your seedlings.

magnolialover said: It looks good Rick and will surely serve its purpose. Congratulations on creating room for your seedlings.

Luka*

For if not for building that, you would still need 10, after these you'll only need 8 Lefty. It's all about progress.

Well I do use untreated pine wood, like Luka, and I'd say no more sophisticated than his in the pic above. It's not permanent, but lasts long enough.

Not surprising, but it is interesting that there is also a "sweet spot" in the soil level for wood decay in these boards. And, it is probably the same as for root development, too, as it is these same types of soil organisms that benefit both processes that thrive there. Due to optimal moisture/air/temperature ratios, for me it begins about 1 inch below the mulched soil surface, and goes down about 6 inches.

If it can last 3y I would be happy.

I think 8-10 years is more the norm.

These boards have already been used for other things and have been exposed to rain and sun so I doubt they will last for many years. Nevermind. It will help me.