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Oriental Lilies in Texan Winters

14 years ago

This is my first year for planting lilies. Last spring, I planted five bulbs each of Oriental lilies in two very large plastic containers.They all came up during early-mid summer with healthy 3 ft. stalks and fragrant blooms that were absolutely gorgeous. Now am wondering what do I do next? It's almost time for our first freeze of the winter and the stalks and leaves are still mostly green (some leaves have a few brown tips). It's my understanding that we should not cut doen the stalks until they are completely dry and brown. We usually have mild winters in this part of Texas with ocasional hard freezes of limited duration (24-48 hrs.) every 3-4 weeks until around mid-April when it gets hotter than blazes and stays that way until after Halloween. Should I leave the bulbs in the pots and move them to the garage (dark and cold but not as cold as outside); or should I just leave them in the pots outdoors in a protected location (against the house facing south) and cover them with anti-frost cloth when a freeze is predicted? Your suggestions would be most appreciated.

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Comments (4)

meolongxu87
14 years ago
If you live in Dallas, I can tell you that we hasn't got any "cold" weather yet... so just leave it there for a while...I think lily likes cool winter and will go dormant when cold weather arrives, and we haven't got any temperature below 40 yet....just hang in there. Eventually the leaves will be damaged by frost, if not, cut them back this Christmas, I think they have had enough chance to produce food if they have been sitting in the sun since spring.
fondo
14 years ago
Is it posible get lily bulbs on december or january, and where?
I want to try but everybody tell me that itÂ´s too late
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Unlike many "bulbs", Lilies don't go completely dormant, so digging them up and storing them in a bag out of the soil should not be done. I've had Asiatic lilies in pots and they did fine for about 3 years provided I watched the watering when they weren't actively growing. Too much water in the winter leads to mush in the spring. What I would do is about mid September, just as it's cooling down a bit, unpot them, change out the potting soil and then replant them in the pot. This is the normal time in my area for planting them in the ground as it's still enough time for a root system to develop before winter sets in. In doubt about the timing you could always wait until early spring to repot them.
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Hi Summerflowers Lilies can stand very cold weather, so "cold hardiness" isn't the problem. The difficulty for cold zones is when does Fall dormancy occur relative to when the lily blooms. Lilies need time after they bloom (which depletes the bulbs energy stores) to build back up through photosynthesis. If the leaves die back shortly after bloom that can't happen. The orientals are the later blooming of the lilies Many bloom from late July up to late August and so are riskier for cold zones - where Fall comes early. Lucky for you, Mona Lisa is one of the earliest blooming of the Orientals - blooming in mid June for most people. Since yours are blooming now you should have time for them to build up before they go dormant. (Just how early does Fall come where you live?) The Lily Nook (a Canadian nursery) has a bunch of information pages on growing lilies in cold (i.e., early Fall) zones. -Helen
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I've had them winter (east-central Sask) but after 2 or 3 years fade away. My SIL who lives nearby, on the other hand, has had hers for a number of years and they come back beautifully each year. There's a forum here on GardenWeb called the Far North forum - mostly covering zones 1-3. Lilies are a favourite topic over there, including many posts about Orientals. Here's a search to start you off Here is a link that might be useful: Far North Forum search on oriental lily
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
14 years ago
The lilies will be perfectly frost hardy in the containers and shouldn't require any particular protection. Since I am also in zone 8 (but a very different climate), it is highly unusual for our zones to experience winter cold severe enough to encourage the soil freezing, which would be the only limiting factor for leaving them in a container unprotected. I grow all manner of plants in containers long term (including lilies) and have never had winter issues on anything that was fully hardy for my area. We tend to get a lot of rainfall in winter so plants that are sensitive about drainage - like the lilies - I tend to place out of direct exposure to the elements.

fondo, lilies are available for retail sale in both fall and spring with both spring flowering bulbs (fall) and with summer flowering bulbs (spring). Most mail order sources offer them both seasons as well, halting fall shipping in November but resuming shipping again in early spring. It doesn't hurt the bulbs to wait to order in spring but sometimes the widest and best selection is reduced. An early spring planted lily should bloom just as easily the first season as one planted the previous fall. Here, where a lot of lilies are grown for commercial sales, you will find them in scores available for planting at the large, regional garden show held in February. That's pretty much where I get all my lilies.
kayakita
Original Author
14 years ago
Meolongxu87 and Gardengal 48,

Thank you so much for your advice. I will leave the lilies in the pots outside and hope and pray they are as beautiful next summer as they were this year. I think I'll even order so more varieties to plant this spring. They are simply awesome flowers!

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