I am so happy to find this post. I have almost the opposite problem - I live in the hot wet tropics, never cold. I purchased some Crocus (Saffron) corms (was very expensive here so trying to not make mistakes). I put them in my veggie drawer in the refrigerator (all fruits removed from fridge) at 3C/37F. I read that they must have a cold period of at least 15 weeks to have a proper healthy bloom. After being in the fridge less than 3 weeks, each are having a white sprout coming out the top, but no roots. So do: 1. Ignore and wait the 15 weeks (will they starve to death?) or 2. Plant now (they are going in a pot) being very careful not to break the tender shoots and water only once until green shoots emerge from the soil? Thank you so much for the help, Christa

Yes, definitely plant the lily bulbs ASAP. Lilies can handle some chilly weather, so they'll be fine, and a frost won't harm the bulb at all since it is planted too far down. Plus, lilies don't really go dormant, so they don't do well at all out of the soil(and they'll probably be starting to sprout by now too, which isn't good) As for the other lilies, I would be planting them outside if I was you, just cover them if we get a late frost. Make sure you cut the blooms off when they are done flowering, for their first year especially they shut put their foliage energy into roots rather than seeds. They should probably be hardened off, put them outside in a partially shady area for a couple days, then start moving them into the sun for a couple more days and they should be good to go. If they are in little pots just be sure they don't dry out too much in the sun. To be honest, any time I've bought lilies from a greenhouse or started them indoors I haven't bothered hardening them off, I just plant them, keep them well watered for the first little bit and they've been fine. Probably not the best gardening practice, but I've always gotten away with it(with lilies, anyway)

Hi LaLeeLuna, As long as you haven't bought "confused bulbs" (those not dug up this season) you shouldn't have a problem with early sprouting now. And that's an uncommon case since lilies don't go fully dormant and so don't store well without proper care. The bigger problem in our zone is an unseasonably warm spell in the middle or even late winter. Having had a cold period first, the bulbs think its spring and sprout - only to be nailed by the following frost. To help prevent this, plant your bulbs deep (8"-10"). Most lilies are stem rooting and need the depth for that anyways, but another advantage is that deeper soil has more moderate temp swings. It also helps prevent snacking by hungry winter squirrels! A heavy mulch provides additional insulation - just be sure in damp, shady, or heavily planted areas to pull the mulch back in the spring and keep a look out for slugs. Slugs can have a nice little feast on new lily shoots before you even know the plants are coming up. But, for the most part, oriental and asiatic lilies are pretty tough plants and will grow in less than ideal conditions. Good Luck with your experiment! -Helen

Like the other folks said, as long as the ground is workable, you can plant bulbs. My wife came home with a bag full a couple weekends ago. I just planted them this past Saturday. I had to break through a bit of frost in some areas, but not a big deal for the most part.