I created this thread to serve as one central location to document our observations ( good or bad ) throughout the year, that we think are weather related. We already have a good start with all the talk about climate change. And, we know the Pacific Northwest has had a record warm winter while the Midwest, North Central and North Eastern US, all have had record cold. How will this effect this years lily performance? We'll see. Hopefully, at the end of the year, we can put together a nice little summary.

Well Lorn, this winter was similar to last years winter for me but was exceptionally cold, as was last year.

I know that here in Ontario last year was brutal and this year is one of the coldest on record. I have over 320 New lilies planted and no idea what will happen this year. last year was very cold and my oriental the one at least did exceptionally well.
I have heard many people lost their trumpet lilies last year here as well.
Normally you do not need mulch in zone 5 but I did this year and glad I did. We normally do not see wind chills at -43F...

they best part of all this is that the snow cover here is 5 feet.

they told me that the tulip tree that is 80 years old should have died in this cold brutal winter last year since it is not its zone. but I left all the leaves under it when I was busy moving in and forgot all about it and it saved it. They also told me that plants can learn to adapt to weather changes. Something the ministry of natural resources wants me to try is start some seedlings off the tulip tree. Since the tree was able to survive the winter maybe the seedlings could do the same. Not sure if lilies work the same as this.

I know that with all the snow this year there was not much problem at all with animals in the bulbs. I also plant one skunk bulb per flat bed of flowers to keep out all the pests and never ever lost a crocus even. the nurseries use them as well as some of the bigger lily growers too to protect the bulbs in the ground.

so will see what happens
I have 5 inches of coloured cedar mulch and not sure how much of it should be removed this spring........
they are calling for a late late spring here this year..... with the Great Lakes almost 90% ice covered it be later then usual.

I wonder if a tulip tree would grow here. Or more to the point survive our winters. This year was exceptionally mild with little snow, just enough to have a white Christmas and spring.

Yes, it has been a warmer than usual winter here in the Pacific Northwest. Much dryer than usual too. Our coldest temperatures were way back in December. Many of my lily seedling pots on the front porch didn't go dormant until late January. But a warm February has some of them growing again.

I checked around the garden today to see what all has emerged. The LAs tend to emerge earlier and they are doing a good job of it now. Also Polar, an LO is up.

Here is an updated photo I took today of L. pardalinum x Milden Red Ball. It is roaring along!



Some LAs:

Arbatax and Royal Sunset:




Emerging Pearl Melanie; looks like it has multiplied a bit:



Emerging Purple King bulb... exit Stage Left!!



Lots of other lilies poking out here. Night temperatures the last week or so have bee around 29-32F, not cold enought to bite them. Daytime highs around 55-65F. I'm sure that is what is driving them.

We have lots of spring color now, daffies, hyacinths, Thundercloud plums. It really smells wonderful outside .

If anyone grows magnolias up there, Mary, then I'd say a Tulip tree is worth a shot. Both have fleshy root systems that is often a limiting factor, in relation to temperature.

Connie, was that Purple King in a wet spot? Always nice to see the first lilies of the season. What will be interesting to see on these real early ones will be the bud count and flower character, especially the top three or four flowers or so. No hybrid Orientals up yet? Please post a date when they do. Nice report, Connie !!

Connie, those top three or four flowers would represent the effects of the later part of the chill when you were far above normal. If the chill was to warm the bulbs reprograming becomes corrupted and that most often shows up in flower quality. In your case, that would be the last few buds to open. Some cultivars within any Division may be affected more than others.

EDIT ADDEDD: Conversely, those that had far below normal temperatures during the same later part of the winter chill cycle may or will see the same affects. It is this later part of the chill cycle that's so important to good bud and flower quality.

Ha Ha Lorn almost everything is in a wet spot here except for my one raised bed. But I can say it has been quite dry this winter so I don't think it is that; I guess the bulb wasn't planted deep enough. I also have a clump of Elise in the raised bed that is showing bulb tops.

I can think of only three Oriental cultivars that I have-- Rio Negro, Summer's End and a B&D test lily. I'll check those areas out today but I doubt if they any of them are up yet.

The little garden where the Purple King is is a bit low. I hope to be able to take the time in the fall to dig the bulbs there out and raise it up a little, mixing the new soil well with the old. There is a rose there too and I will have to take it up too, I think.

I started removing the winter mulch today, a little everyday for the next 3 or 4 days will do it. No rush, otherwise it's too much like work. The soil temperature is 48-51'F and pretty much on par for early April in spite of a below normal winter. March temperatures were slightly warmer than normal. Soil moisture level is perfect, the best I've seen in many years, probably due to a relatively dry March with about 60% of normal rainfall/snow here. No noses up yet but all conditions look really good so far.

A magnolia is touchy up here in Zone 5
the tulip tree.......known as a yellow poplar I would say a no go for it in zone 4.
I had to put at least 1 foot deep of mulched leaves around the base
I was told that from the Ministry of Natural Resources..

what they want to do since the tree does much better in zone 6 and 7 and up
is to try and see if the seeds a viable on my lily tree......
a lady told me that they will need a cold freeze so plant them in a pot and leave it outside
many of the tulip trees here are hybrids.......
my tree is 80 plus years old and did not get flowers until it was about 45 years the neighbours said and then it got 750 of them on the tree at one time.......the tree is about 90 feet tall right now.

I have noticed in my gardens now that I can see a garden........
that I have no crocus up yet and that is very very odd.......they normally bloom in the snow here....
I have no snow drops and they are just as early
no daffs
but on the odd side lots of tulips are coming up
I actually might need to protect them if they start to flower too soon here.........do not see any flower heads on them yet
my mom has never heard of this in 80 years happening with tulips

our lily season is going to be late late late

Well, not sure what caused it, but when I look at the overall height across the board in all my lily gardens, except for the 2 and 3 year old seedling rows---everything is noticeably shorter. No question about it!. Everything seems to be budding pretty much on schedule so far.

I was just thinking that all of my lilies look quite a bit shorter this year, no kidding! I blamed myself and promised not to make as many crosses this year. But maybe that's not entirely it. The OTs and trumpets are especially noticeable. Weather? Delayed response to winter 2014?

Maybe a little early for me to tell yet for the few OTs I have, but everything else is pretty normal.

Most of my lilies are very short but I believe that it mostly has to do with lack of rain. I've had a few lilies take big steps back this year. A three budded Carte Blanche from last year is now two blind stems. A big double stem Saltarello is now two smaller blind stems. There are a few others two.