lovesblooms said:Is there anything to blame for this strange bent/twisted heads on my oriental lilies?
I'd be interested in seeing what these plants look like now, about a month later after the fact. It appears that there was a lot of top soft tissue growth during the extended cool weather period in conjunction with an over abundance of moisture. When a plant and bulb is saturated at it's maximum holding capacity for water, the uptake or absorption of certain minerals needed to build a strong stem are severely diminished ( think minerals like calcium is to strong bones in people ). When the weight of the top becomes too heavy for the soft skeletal framework to support the stem, it bends over. Quite often and if not too severe, the situation is self correcting, as soon as there's ample sunshine, warmer temperatures and moisture levels decline. The stem may harden back up with a bend in the middle but this problem will have no affect on next years performance.
Note: I see something similar on Div. VI, Trumpets and Aurelians quite often with newly budded stems=fast growth on warm nights. After one 80'F night a few days ago, I got up to about 12 or 15 like shown in the pictures below. All but a couple self corrected by the next day. Those in the pictures did not.
