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problems growing lilly of the valley

17 years ago

Help! I planted my Lilly of the valley bulbs in March and I only have one shoot! No leaves, no flowers. I don't know what i did wrong, we planted the bulbs in partial shade and it does get some pretty good sun around from 11 to 2. I really want to figure this out so i can have some next year. Any ideas on what i might have done wrong??

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Comments (2)

Nancy
16 years ago
Lily of the Valley CAN be hard to start I've heard, but if you have a shoot this year, you should see much more next year. If it likes its location, it can be a beast. It "might" be getting too much sun, but I think it should be fine. Mine has increased a tremendous amount in the 5 or 6 years I've had it, & I've dug a lot up for friends & for trades.
jenny_in_se_pa
16 years ago
I have found that they don't like to be planted too deeply. I have dug some up from beds that both my sisters had with them and found the pips and roots were barely running an inch or two below the soil line (although they would go deep to grow under rocks or bricks when spreading). I had tried and failed with the dried pips in the past planting 3" - 4" down, but after raising those up to about an inch below the soil line and planting some transplants just as shallowly, voila!
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I find they spread, but slowly. A trench boarder seems to slow them down. I like them, they will grow in total shade, like under a evergreen; looks better than wood chips. They are easy to dig up and transplant, that what I do to control the creeping edge. If you want them to grow less vigorously, don't use compost or mulch. Very few weeds grow in a healthy lily patch. Tiger lilies behave similarly, except they will let some weeds grow. I intermixed them with ferns, no weed issues. If you ignore either of these plants for years, they will spread, but no match for my Toro. I have bamboo from next door, now that's invasive! A trick for growing bamboo is to use a plastic garbage can sunk deep into the ground, one could use this technique for these lilies, but wouldn't have to go so deep (way too much work for me, though).
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You problem sounds like a bacterial or fungal leaf disease. They can happen when leaves remain wet for extended periods of time and are exposed to certain bacteria and fungal spores splashed up from the soil. The following site will give you more info. Fungal leaf spot sounds the most like your problem. Fungal And Bacterial Leaf Diseases Try these sites for treatment measures. The first site requires a pdf reader as the file is a pdf. Fungal Leaf Spot Leaf Spot Disease of Trees and Shrubs Hope they are of some help.
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