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Help: My Meemaw gave me some Tiger Lily Bulbs for planting.

15 years ago

My meemaw brought me Tiger Lilies [they are orange with the black dots on them....long stem with the berries/seeds] from AR that were planted there by my great great grandmother.....she has a black and white picture as a girl standing next to them. I dont want to mess these up, I am just learning the ways of daylily planting in my new state of WV. I have admired and dreamed of a daylily garden for two years and finally have these along with an assortment of 25 others ready to plant.

NOW my question: Meemaw just dug up a HUGE clump of dirt with the roots and several large round [bulb] looking roots. Can I soak this mound in water and loosen the dirt then seperate each of those large round roots......are those in fact the bulbs? I am really a novice.

THANKS!!

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Comments (4)

Nancy
15 years ago
Tiger lilies are from the lilium family & are true lilies. Daylilies are not really lilies, but hemerocallis family. Tiger lilies are very easy, I have a large group of them. What you have are bulbs which you can divide & spread around, plant about the depth they were planted originally. They will multiply quickly. Next year when they bloom they will develop small bulbils along the stems which will drop off & form more bulbs that will bloom in 3 or 4 years. The only real advice I would give is not to plant them where the soil stays constantly wet or the bulbs will rot. Vey easy.
henygirl
Original Author
15 years ago
I think I need to start paying attention to the 'real' names and try and understand all this. THANKS for the advice...I am excited to get them in the ground tomorrow. Very wet today and too exhausted to try.

Is there a ground cover you recommend to plant so I dont have big patches of dirt NOW? We just moved into a new construction home so the beds are rock and dirt.

I want something that will compliment the lilies and daylilies in the spring BUT will show off some during fall and remain throughout the winter.

Also if I am posting in the wrong section....let me know!
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Greening, I agree with NGraham that the best time to move these is when the foliage begins to yellow/die back. Unfortunately for you, that means after they've finished blooming. You could cut off the buds, I guess, or cut the flowers as they open and float them in water. I wouldn't cut too much of the stem along with the flowers, since the leaves on these usually go right up to the buds--and bulbs use their leaves to build and store carbohydrate reserves for next year's blooms. For that reason, I wouldn't recommend cutting the stems off now. Another option might be digging them up now, as carefully as you can and with as many of the roots intact as possible, and potting them. You could give them away in the pots. If you have a lot of them, you could try digging and potting a few to see how they take it. In general, they are pretty resilient and shouldn't mind being dug, but if your soil tends towards clay, it can be hard to get all of the roots when you dig. The lilies might hate that, or they might take it in stride. I haven't dug any when they were in bloom so I can't say. I'd definitely stick that one on the ground into a pot, water well, and put it in the shade. Again, I agree with NGraham: it will probably be fine, although it may not bloom next year. Good luck. They're beautiful plants; I, too, am sure you'll find some takers. Just try not to give them to folks who have lily beetle problems. Amanda
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duluthinbloomz4
15 years ago
If you refer to them as Lilium Tigrinum everyone will immediately know what you're dealing with... as opposed to the "ditch lilies" many find pesky.

Your tigers are the easiest of the lilies to grow and have great success with. They just never seem to disappoint especially if you've got a sunny spot with good drainage.

Personally, I would not soak them - just crumble the soil away from the bulbs by hand to separate them out then plant the bulbs at least 6" deep... the top of the bulb below where the stem starts should be the 6" beneath the soil line. They're tough, you can't hurt them even if you accidently break off a stalk which by now should be starting to yellow out. Water them in and forget them till they emerge in the spring.

Check out the Lilies Forum, too.

Aside from getting the lilies into the ground - I'd probably spend this time preparing any future planting beds and making a few elimentary plans before doing any planting. There are all kinds of ground covers - from Uva-Ursi (bearberry) or Sedums like Dragon's Blood to creeping Junipers, etc. What do you like and what do you want to look at from what vantage point; and are you planting things for your own pleasure or for curb appeal? Think you'll be happier with any results by working out a basic plan.
flitter54
14 years ago
Please anyone out there, will gladly pay postage for "ditch" or tiger lillies you want rid of. My midwestern grandmother had big orange lillies growing all over her property and we loved them, they were great, bloomed all summer long. Some had speckles, some not. Having trouble finding them in Salt Lake Utah. Please contact Pat
flitter2454@msn.com seriously! I want them!

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