Lilium 2016

[fermi de Sousa]

Oriental-Trumpet Lilium Hybrid 'Table Dance' looks a bit better this year but still only single flowered as a second bud aborted earlier.
Its short stature indicates that it was probably developed for pot culture, hence the name!
cheers
fermi

[KenC]

Or perhaps it was named to commemorate some ones bachelor party   Either way a lovely lilly.

[Carolyn]

When is the best time of year to pot up or plant out martagon lily bulbs? There seems to be contradictory advice around, some advocating disturbing the bulbs in spring, some in autumn. They take so long to grow from seed that I do not want them to suffer a setback!

[johnstephen29]

Hi Carolyn I would have though now while they are still dormant would be an ideal time. As you have said leaving it later would disturb them.

[Carolyn]

Thanks, John, but the problem with martagons is that they start into growth very early and they are no longer dormant! They tend to sulk for a year if the roots are disturbed. Some people recommend moving them in autumn, but maybe they don't have our potentially damaging mixture of cold and wet to contend with in the winter.

[johnstephen29]

That's true it might be better then to leave them where they are till they die down. So Autumn might be the best time for these. I have some of these lilies, I'll have to check see if mine are showing yet.

[Leena]

I think martagon lilies suffer if moved in the spring, the best time is late summer after flowering, because they start to grow new roots in early autumn.

[Carolyn]

Same treatment as trilliums then, Leena? That would make sense, for plants which need to get off to a fast start in spring, before the leaf canopy opens.

[Leena]

My Trilliums are so young yet, so I don't have experience about dividing or moving them  , but I have had martagon lilies for a long time, and when I have moved them in spring, they never flower well (if at all) that summer, but when moved later in the summer, they are ok the next summer. I think they may be more difficult in that sense than other lilies. Nevetherless, they are my favourites.

[Carolyn]

Leena,my favourites too, especially the white ones. I collected seeds from my late mother's garden and now have a large potful of young plants (I potted on the whole potful each time, so that there would be no check to growth). I think I will plant them out in midsummer - I will be able to see where there are spaces at that time of year too! Thanks for your help.

[Rick R.]

Gene Fox in his book, Martagon Lilies, says the best time to transplant is just after flowering.  He doesn't mention anything in particular about root growth scenarios, but just states that transplanting at this stage allows the time necessary for root re-establishment before winter.  Gene writes that the later you plant toward and into the fall, the less your success will be, but they will always survive. He also says that with the right care, martagons can be transplanted at any time of the year.

[Leena]

Thank you Rick for mentioning this book, I didn't know about it.

I agree that in time martagons will grow whenever they are planted. About ten years ago we had lot of european water voles (Arvicola amphibius) in the garden, and they ate almost all my lilies, but after three or four years new martagon lilies started coming up in odd places, the voles had taken the bulbs into their burrows, and I think some scales had survived and started to grow again. Now I have nice clumps of lilies again.

[Carolyn]

Thanks for the useful advice from the book, Rick. A pity that the book does not seem to be available to purchase anyhere.

[Rick R.]

A pity that the book does not seem to be available to purchase anyhere.

I was going to write a review of this book a couple years ago for NARGS, but since it is out of print, there is little point.  The book is popular among lily enthusiasts in the USA and Canada.  (The author is Canadian.)

[johnstephen29]

I recieved from the seed exchange various lilium species, some of which are starting to grow. They are L. lancifolium var splendens and var flaviflorum, L. bulbiferum and just starting to appear above the compost is L. sulphureum.