When Rick mentioned it I breathed a sigh of relief too.

I always find that the smaller bulblets pop first. I have a stem of Acapulco that has a bunch of nice juvenile stems but behind was a massive stem pushing through, way behind the bulblets. Same thing for a north hybrid and others. I think the little guys need to use less energy pushing up a small stem, where as the bigger stem has a lot of developing to do. I'll see if I can get a few pictures up a little later.

It's now less evident but a few day ago the big stem in the back was barely peeking out under the juvenile stems that have been up for a while.

Joebass said:I always find that the smaller bulblets pop first. ..... I think the little guys need to use less energy pushing up a small stem, where as the bigger stem has a lot of developing to do. I'll see if I can get a few pictures up a little later.

Young plants (1-3 years) tend to break dormancy earlier in many species in temperate climates, not just Lilium. One reason is that the plant as a whole is not as deep as older plants; the soil warms more quickly near to the surface and naturally breaks dormancy earlier. Another is that a bulb closer to the surface has less growth to produce to reach the soil line, so it would emerge earlier even if it began growth at the same time as the mother bulb.

More good virus info from the RHS Lily Year Book 1970:
Summarized proceedings of the Fourth International Lily Conference 1969:

Viruses in Lilies
- W.P. Mowat. Scottish Horticultural Research Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee.
- Z. Stafanac. British Council scholar from the Botanical Institute of the Unversity of Zagreb, Yugoslavia.

Three major viruses are known to infect lilies:
Lily Symptomless Virus . . . . LSV
Tulip Breaking Virus . . . . . . . TBV (a.k.a. Lily Mottling Virus)
Cucumber Mosaic Virus . . . .CMV

Two other viruses have been found in lilies, tobacco rattle virus in the U.S.A., and arabis mosaic virus detected in an imported specimen. Both viruses are transmitted by soil-inhabiting nematodes, but whether these viruses cause disease in lilies is not known.

[At the time (1969) these were the positive identifications. Surely, there must be more. Nevertheless, what the authors say about these specific viruses are accurate. In the Yearbook, there are even electron microscope photos of the individual virus particles.]

- LSV infects only certain members of the Lilium genus. [Unfortunately, no specifics were given. All American traditional Easter lilies (white trumpets) sold at Easter time are infected with LSV. Later in the summary, it was revealed that LSV causes "mottle disease" in L. speciosum.]
- TBV infects Lilium spp. and and a few other plants in other genera of the family Lilaceae, such as Fritlllaria pudica, and Tulipa spp. TBV causes "streak mottle disease" in L. speciosum.
- CMV can be transmitted by more species of aphids than TBV or LSV. Nevertheless, TBV and LSV are transmitted by common species of aphids [at least for the UK], so in practicality, vector transmission is not limited.

Thank you for posting this Rick. This is a good thread to bring back to the top of the rotation as I haven't seen it before.

I hope it is okay asking about this lily on this thread....

Not color breaks... but darker splotches...foliage is perfect...near some daylilies... could have had compost tea or liquid fertilizer spilled on bloom...or is this a virus?

Thank you for any help or comments!

May you have a wonderful week!

Hi Sharon,

The fact that those colour blotches appear to go right through the tepals incline me to think that it's a virus. It looks very similar to the first plant I had that was virused.

Thank you.... Joshua. I was hoping for better news. I have had them quite a few years and will miss them. I went and checked another group on the other side of the garden. It had a bloom that looked the same. I have one more group to open I might have at least one left. Because they are in groups, if I have a plant that blooms normal. Is it safe to keep...or if one in the patch has a virus do I get rid of them all?

On a side note...I did not get an updated thread...just happened to find this.

May the remainder of the month be simply wonderful for you!

If the neighbouring plants have no symptoms and you don't have pests on your plants (i.e. aphids, etc.), then there's a good chance they're okay.

My approach when there is an infected lilium in a group is to poison the plant with gel-based glyphosate (so you're not breathing it in), as Lilium viruses tend not to survive long outside a host. It'll take a while for it to die, but it's safer than trying to dig out the infected plant. If you dig them up now, there is the chance of hitting the neighbouring plants (i.e. cutting through roots of the infected plant and its healthy neighbours) and transferring the virus.

Looks virused to me, too....

I had one about ten years ago that looked just like that. It looks like an LA lily (longiflorum-asiatic hybrid) which are more susceptible to virus. You have been given good advice to get rid of it. I hope your blooming season is a good one. Enjoy!