You've found the famous Dave's Garden website! Join this friendly global community that shares tips and ideas for home and gardens, along with seeds and plants!
Check out the DG homepage for a brief overview of what you'll find in this gardening mega-site.
Login
If you don't have an account yet, visit the registration page to sign up.
I have one of these and all of the blooms have fallen off but the stem is still healthy and green.Do I pull it and store the bulb? Do I just leave it alone?
Hi tawniahomar, If your lilies had opened into full blooms and the petals have dropped, then that is quite normal, they only flower once each year, you will find the seed head where the petals were (little hard pod like thing) I always nip them off to stop the bulb using energy to form seeds, instead, you want the greenery to die down naturaly and this send goodness back into the bulb for next year, or untill it has turned yellow and then you can cut it off as the sap has gone into the bulb, it is a good time to give some fertaliser like bone meal or a general feed around the bulbs to get them nice and plump for next year, just a little handfull is enough and either water it in or hand fork it into the soil, watch you dont go too deep or you will tear the bulb and desease can get in.
Asiatic lilies are normally stem rooting, so it is best to leave the stems and leaves alone, I try to leave my bulbs in the ground all year round, so I plant them a wee bit deeper than it says on the pack, however, if you get deep ground frost, then lift them out, or cover them with a mulch, they are really better left alone, this allows them to increase themself and I dont split my clumps up till about every 4 or 5 years, by then they will have increased more bulbs for you, sometimes they get more damage out the grond that in.
If the flowers fell off before they opened, then you either have a bug, like bright red lily beatle ( you would notice that as the beatle lays the grubs and you see the leaf covered in a black slime) dont think you have any problems really though, or they were allowed to dry out, or the flowers got hit with a severe frost, lilies dont usually have a lot of problems, hope this helps, good luck,
WeeNel.
I have these and I'm actually going to win over the rabbits this year-they have had them for lunch for the past 2 years-just as an FYI, which I learned the hard way. I purchased this stuff in a spray bottle for keeping rabbits and deer away, that is an absolute purtifying smell, but it has worked in keeping those pesky rabbits away. I'm anxious to actually see blooms this year!!
