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Help! I think I killed my asiatic lily

14 years ago

I bought a beautiful asiatic lily earlier this year, and planted it in a pot. I enjoyed it throughout the spring, but it didn't flower during the summer. I noticed a few weeks ago that the lily was turning brown and dying back. The plant had 3 separate stems, and one finally died back so much that I was able to pop it at ground level. I thought that meant that all 3 had died, so I pulled another next to it up. To my surprise, the stem pulled up with a root system and several bulblets attached. Now I'm worried that I've completely killed the plant, even though I tried to replace it in its entirety in the same hole I pulled it from.

Have I killed this beautiful flower? How can I save it, or is it even possible to save it?

Comments (3)

hostaholic2 z 4, MN
14 years ago
Lilies only bloom once per season. It is normal for the stems to brown and die. While the stems and leaves were green they were feeding the bulbs for next year. If you get a long enough period of cold weather in the winter your bulbs should bloom again next year just fine on their own schedule. These were probably forced for spring bloom. Lilies need a period of vernalization (cold treatment) to bloom the following year. I THINK it's about 6 weeks below 40 degrees, though I'm by no means positive. You may want to contact your local county extension office to find out if you have enough of a cold period for successfully growing lilies. Your extension agent or the local Master Gardeners should be able to help you.
lady_e
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks so much. So, do you think it's possible that since I put the bulbs back in the soil that they'll be ok (if all other factors are met)? They weren't out of the soil for more than a minute or so.
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stanly
14 years ago
I'm sure that your lily will be just fine. I've dug up many lilies over the years and have had them out of the ground for several hours before I planted them and they came up the next year just fine. As Hostaholic2 mentioned, each variety of lily has their own schedule of blooming and as was said before, your lily was forced to bloom for sale. If you plant you bulb in the ground, I'm sure it will come up next year. I usually plant them about 4 to 6 inches deep. Stan

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