Here on Vancouver Island I grow both C. anthonyanus and E. anguliger outside in filtered sun from April until October, this is when they both set flower buds and start to bloom. The end of October they're moved to a coolish greenhouse (minimal heat) where they bloom off and on giving off a lovely fragrance for a couple of months. A......

Hi Wolfstar! I have been going through the exact same thing as you. We moved into our house 3 years ago and brought our garden with us from our former home. This year has been dedicated to starting new flower beds and identifying the lilies that the old owners left behind. I didn't know a thing about them until I came to gardenweb and got some great help from these folks. Sometimes I just type something like "hot pink freckled lily" into google and get websites that post pics of the ones they are selling or images that gardeners have taken of the plants they grow in their yard and post to photobucket or flickr. Here is a link to one of the sites I use to help me identify my lilies. Good luck Tracy Here is a link that might be useful: Photos of lilies with descriptions and planting advice

Water uptake and therefore nutrient uptake is energy driven, i.e. it takes energy to absorb water and nutrients, and the roots need oxygen to turn the carbs the plant makes (its food) into energy - just like you do. When your plants wilt while the soil is still damp and the problem persists more than a day or 2, you can be almost 100% certain it's a root problem - probably related to excess water retention and the dearth of oxygen that comes along with it. Roots are opportunists - they don't/can't "go looking" for water, air, and nutrients, they simply grow where conditions are favorable ...... and don't grow where they aren't. In your case, the roots are probably growing deeper into the pot when the water supply is at its lowest, then dying back again when you water. The cycle of death and regeneration of roots not only impairs root function, it's very expensive in terms of energy outlay as well. What it takes to regenerate roots killed by a lack of air might have been spent on things more productive - like an increase in plant mass, blooms, fruit ...... Your soil choice has a very significant impact on how easy/difficult success is going to be, and on how wide the margin for grower error is. My take on what constitutes a good soil, at a minimum, is one you can water to beyond the point of saturation, i.e. until at least 15-20% of the total volume of water applied exits the drain, carrying accumulating salts with it, this, without the grower having to worry about root rot or impaired root function. In most cases, the inability to water correctly also prevents you from being able to institute a nutritional supplementation plan that works well because nutrient ratios quickly become skewed if you can't hit the 'reset button' by flushing the soil regularly. Dennis is right about tight little root balls, too. If I get sets that have congested roots, I rip the bottom half of the roots off the plant and use as nylon pick to tease the remaining roots apart before the set gets planted. I also remove the lower leaves of the sets and plant very deep if in a pot, and deep and at about a 30* angle if they get planted in the ground. Often, roots allowed to remain in a tight little wad end up staying in a tight little wad with the plant suffering for it, and that's something you want to avoid. Roughing up the roots actually sends chemical messengers to the rest of the plant, telling it it needs to direct energy to the root mass. Plus, the closer roots are trimmed to the stem, the more juvenile and vigorous they are (look up 'ontogenetic age'), so make sure the roots are going to be able to easily colonize your soil mass by correcting congestion before planting and using an appropriate soil. Al

Flowerlillies: I have seen this before. It appears to be scale. Get several Q-tips and a bottle of Isopropyl alcohol. Pour some of the alcohol into the cap of the bottle. Dip the Q-tip into the alcohol. Now, wherever you see those white, powdery patches on the leaves and stems of your plants, rub the Q-tip on them. Make sure all the white patches are dabbed well. If you've already done this and still need help, you will not like my next suggestion. You most likely have them on the roots of your plants which is why you are seeing deformity. They are literally, slowly, eating the plants alive. What I have done in the past is re-plant any and all plants in the affected plants vicinity. I took no chances. I know this is a pain and labor intensive but being on a balcony actually makes this easier to do. If you have a lot of container plants, work them in batches. Unplant 3 or 4 of them. Make sure to do it over a box or trash bag to catch any of the possibly infected soil. get another plastic bag and gently wrap the roots of the plant and carry it over to the sink or bathtub. Submerge the entire plant in luke warm water with a mild dish detergent. Use just a capful of detergent. Dunk the entire plant, count to ten then do it again. Do this with the rest of your plants, again, working in batches of 3 or 4 if you have many. Before you re-plant make sure you use fresh, new soil. Discard any old soil you've had. There is obviously something in there that is attractive to this pest. Also, what I do is take the soil in batches inside a large plastic container and Nuke it in the microwave for at least 1 minute. This will kill nearly anything such as larvae living in the soil. When the soil has come back to a normal temperature, I mix in my fertilizer, perlite and any other additive. But, more importantly, I spray the soil with Neem Oil. Spray liberally and mix it into the new soil. Make sure to wash your containers in hot soapy water. Now you can re-plant. I would spray the plants with Neem oil at least every 7-10 days. Once this infestation is over with, I would still as a preventive measure spray them once a month and lightly spray the top part of the soil as well. Hope this helps, best of luck- NJC