The word "Lily" is kind of vague. Lots of things are called lilies, but aren't what we normally refer to as lilies - Asiatics, Trumpets, Orientals etc. I doubt any of these would go a year without producing any foliage if the bulbs were that large unless there's some species lily I'm not familiar with that would do this. Most of the above produce bulbs that are a series of overlapping scales, so they're not really smooth. Maybe if you could post a picture of one, it might help to ID it. Kevin

Lift the bulbs in late September or early October and then replant ASAP. This is the time of year that I would rejuvenate the bed, here in Minneapolis. Since you are in zone 5, you might be able to lift the bulbs a little later than the dates I have given above. Just make sure you have somewhere to plant all of the extra bulbs or that you have people you can give/sell the extra bulbs to. Mike

"If they are not planted they will go soggy or ???" Laurie, from my understanding, lily bulbs can't be stored over winter. They need to form roots to keep the bulb healthy. Yes, zone 3, I hear ya! We just got 3-4" of snow yesterday, and the highs for the rest of the week are supposed to be below freezing. I'm not sure if these are good conditions to plant lily bulbs out now. If you are expecting to get a warm spell for awhile, then maybe they'd be ok planted out. This really hasn't been a warm fall, has it? How many bulbs do you have? Here's an idea that might work for you. It was told to me by a local nursery owner about forcing tulips, but the same theory can hold for lilies. He said for tulip bulbs, to plant them up in pots of soil and then put them in a cool place(10-15C) for a couple of weeks to let the roots develop. Then put them in a colder place(I use a spare fridge) for the duration of their dormant period. I would do this with the lilies, and just keep them in the fridge until early spring. I've had excellent results with keeping oriental lilies in the fridge like this over winter, as they're borderline hardy here. So if you only have a few bulbs and have a second fridge, or know someone who does, then this could be an option. If you have 50 bulbs, well, then, I'm outta ideas!LOL Good Luck, Laurie

Have I delayed lily-of-the-valley planting too long? Newby here. The silver maple in my front yard was planted much too close to my house in an area about 25' square. It's bounded on one side by my house and three sides by cement. The grass is fighting a losing battle against the tree, what with the roots heaving up the soil, so I thought lotv might make it a good companion (or adversary). (The tree seems to have spared the house, which was built in 1957, its foundation still intact.) I'm making a raised bed 7" high out of the 25' square and will fill it with þ HD âÂÂtopsoilâ (dirt) and ü HD humus/manure. It will drain. The problem is that building the supports for the raised bed is taking 5x longer than I thought it would, and those pips have been sitting in the service sink in the basement for a week. I've kept them perfectly evenly moist in well punctured baggies �" never soggy or saturated. The roots feel like they've been starched and smell like clean earth. No rot or mold at all. BUT...some of the tips (of the pips?) are kind of reddish brown, and some are green. I think they were paler when they arrived. So what's with that color? Are the pips dying? Have they passed the point of no return? Should I forget about them and get fresh ones? Or are they okay? And what do you think of my soil formula? I'm going to plant them tomorrow or the next day, at the latest. Thanks very much for your thoughts. Bernard-in-Ohio