I keep looking for a list of at least a few lilies that produce bulbils and all I can up with are the regulare orange tiger lilies. Does anyone have any other lilies with bulbils? I would really like to get some. THX!

There is a list, around here somewhere. Perhaps @Leftwood can help us..

Lilium sargentiae has bulbils.

Our original list is not here: it's still on DG.

it's in a thread called Who has bulbils? here:

I had compiled the posters' information and kept the complete list up to date in this post in the thread:

Regarding Lilium leichtlinii var. maximowiczii, since I now grow it from seed wild collected in Japan, I can say it definitely does not always produce bulbils. Mine never have (so far), and they are 4 years old from seed. They are not even remotely like the one claimed to be the same name in the DG thread. I am reprinting the list (below) for our use (and updating) here, and I have removed L. leichtlinii var. maximowiczii, pending dissenting credible data.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Always = the type produces bulbils ever year.
Sometimes = plants must be induced (somehow) to produce bulbils.
Unknown = I couldn't tell by the post (on the original DG thread) which it is of the above.

Alex 2 - unknown
America - sometimes
Bali Hai - unknown
Blood Tiger - always
Cathedral Windows - sometimes
Champagne - unknown
Cheryl Ann - sometimes
Commander in Chief - sometimes
Dryrot - always
Firetruck - sometimes
First Crown - unknown
Giraffe - sometimes
Hiawatha - sometimes
Indian Brave - always
Lilium bulbiferum - always
Lilium lancifolium - always
Lilium lancifolium var. flaviflorum - always
Lilium lancifolium 'Flore Pleno' - always
Lilium leichtlinii - sometimes
Lilium sargentiae - always
Lilium speciosum var. album - sometimes
Lilium sulphureum - always
Lavon - sometimes
Loretto - sometimes
Marilla - unknown
Mapira -sometimes
Momentous - always
Nutcracker - sometmes
Ove - always
Pink Champagne - always
Pink Panther - unknown
Prawn Tiger - always
Queen of Spades - sometimes
Rascal (Tonkin hybrid:Oz) - sometimes
Red Dutch - sometimes
Robinson's Comet - always
Rochelle - always
Soft Whisper - sometimes
Starburst - unknown
Stracciatella Event - sometimes
Show Off (Tonkin hybrid:Oz, not RHS registered) - sometimes
Taco Sauce - always
Tiger Babies - sometimes
Tresor - sometimes
Tropical Dream - sometimes
Whiskey - sometimes
Yellow Electric - unknown
Yellow Star - unknown
Zeus - sometimes
Zeus Pink - sometimes

Additions and corrections are appreciated. I'll update this list as needed.

I always have bulbils on Asiatic lily Pink Champagne.

Yeah, I see a couple there

Pink Champagne, added.

Hiawatha - sometimes
Giraffe - sometimes

Thank you so much!
That's an awesome list!

The Tonkin hybrid 'Soft Whisper' can also produce bulbils:



The stem was damaged during blooming - the wind snapped it a bit below the top of the stem, but did not break it off. The remaining bud bloomed normally (I staked it to secure it). Recently I removed the stake and found the bulbils at the top. You can see where I dead-headed the two blooms.

The other bulb I have of this cultivar bloomed normally and has not produced bulbils (its stem was fine), so it seems that 'Soft Whisper' can be induced to form bulbils under the right conditions.

Found this yesterday:



Was surprised to see that the bulbil had actually sent up three leaves! This is one of my mixed Asiatic and LA hybrid baby bulbs from Golden Ray Gardens, so until it flowers I won't know which cultivar it is. I suspect I have two of this particular cultivar, though, as one of the others has behaved exactly the same way (a single bulbil at the top of a non-flowering stem with several stem bulblets growing well at the base of the stem). Will be interesting to see what it is next year.

My question for the moment is - do I leave it till the main stem dies, or detach it and pot it up now?


In other bulbil news, I have found a few more. I will have to wait until next year to see how they behave - this may not be their normal behaviour, especially as it is the first year after planting.

• Four out of the five 'Tresor' stems have a bulbil near the top. All five flowered. One of my attempts to set seed appears to have worked and intriguingly, this is on one of the stems with a bulbil. The one stem without a bulbil has two failed pods on it.


• The Tonkin hybrid 'Rascal' has two tiny bulbils approx. two-thirds the way up on one stem. Both 'Rascal' plants flowered, but I was only successful in setting seed on one; the other failed for some unknown reason and it is the one with the bulbils.


• The Tonkin hybrid 'Show Off' (not the 'Showoff' in the RHS register, by the way) has a large bulbil at the top of the non-flowering stem.


• One of four non-flowering 'Mapira' stems has a bulbil at the top.


• One of two non-flowering 'Whiskey' stems has a bulbil near the top.

Josh, a good question as I have seen both methods recommended. I look forward to reading others responses, but I suspect both work. McRae recommends that the bulbils should be planted a few weeks after flowering in his book "Lilies: A Guide for Growers and Collectors".

If the weather is mild and not too dry, you could leave the bulbil a week or two, but if you wait too long, the risk is that it soon will loose the leaves and that the roots will dry up. I always think that I'll let them grow one more week and they will be a little larger only to realize it has actually gotten to late and that they are starting to dry up. Mine usually have less leaf, but sometimes more roots than yours at this stage. I guess this differs greatly with local weather conditions.

It does seem a little wasteful loosing the tiny roots and I imagine an earlier planting would give a slightly better result, but I haven't tried it myself. Once in ground they seem to immediately start to grow new roots (yes I do dig and check these things ), so even if planted in a more dormant state, sooner rather than later seems like a good option.

Joshua, there must be something going on to make so many normally non-bulbil producing lilies produce bulbils. Though I try to shy away from those that are bulbil priducing, most of the ones that I do have don't start producing the bulbils until just blooming or after. Usually, I just remove and discard them, since I don't what them spreading all over the place. But, If I want to replant bulbils, I wait until they are ready to pop off by themselves, since that will be when they are the largest. This is always well before the stem starts to dry.

Thanks William and Rick. In that case, I will pot up those bulbils with roots (i.e. the one with leaves and the two off 'Soft Whisper') and see how they go.

I, too, concluded that there must be something causing so many lilies to produce bulbils. I had noticed the correlation between bulbil production and lack of blooms, although 'Tresor' breaks that pattern. What else (other than damage to the stem) can trigger bulbil production?

Are the lilies producing bulbils planted in the ground or pots?

They're all in pots, except for the mixed baby Asiatic and LAs, which are in a large polystyrene box/tub.

William said: Once in ground they seem to immediately start to grow new roots (yes I do dig and check these things ).

I agree/can confirm this. I got a lot of bulbils from Tiger Babies. I picked off around 20 of them (there's still a bunch still on the stem) and potted them up, none had leaves (and still don't) but they started growing a lot of roots last a looked (about a month after planting...I also went poking around) and seemed to have increased in size a fair bit compared with the ones still on the stem.

Australis said:What else (other than damage to the stem) can trigger bulbil production?

Complete guess but it wouldn't surprise me if heat stress is a trigger.

I too had lots of bulbils from Tiger Babies this year, but only recently picked them off and haven't planted them yet... better get on to that!