Hi: My Vesey order has arrived and they have all been planted in pots. Lily, Turk's Cap Lily Collection 7 Bulbs (only 1 bulb, the purple, actually looks like a martagon bulb. I am assuming the other, larger bulbs have turk cap like flowers but are not martagons. Somewhat of a misrepresentation) Lily, Asiatic Jacqueline ....... 3 Bulbs Lily, Asiatic Landini ....... 3 Bulbs Lily, Asiatic Tango Collection 15 Bulbs (rather small bulbs, about 1 inch across) Lily, Orietal Golden Stargazer 3 Bulbs (decent sized bulbs) Lily, OT hybrid Scheherazade 3 bulbs (good, large sized bulbs) Lily, Lilium nepalense 3 bulbs (did not send, they say back ordered) Lily, Double Tiger 'Flora Pleno' 3 bulbs Lycoris radiata(Red Spider Lily) 3 Bulbs (already sprouted when they arrived, not sure how this will affect them long term) Eremurus (Foxtail Lily) 9 Roots (These looked pretty good to me, all seemed to have living 'eyes' at their centers. One bag had an extra root, I have big hopes for these ones ;-) I will try an remember to do a followup new year on the Vesey order. Cheers, MG Here is a link that might be useful: Our website

Almost any kind of lily that's tall enough to cut is my favorite. I don't tend to grow a lot of plain oranges or pinks as those are very common and cheap at the supermarket. For the same reason, I don't grow Stargazer much, but all other Orientals that are tall enough are fair game. As long as it's tall enough, how much you like its looks, and how well you can combine that color with the rest of your flowers, are good criteria. I find that the LA hybrids aren't a whole lot stronger than plain Asiatics, whose petals are easily knocked off when open. If you'll be selling them, cutting with only one or two flowers open helps that somewhat - if the petals on the open flowers get knocked off, at least there will be more flowers. Another option is to sell them with more flowers open but only in arranged bouquets, with the lily stem in the center, to protect it. Harvesting them open, without knocking the petals off, is tricky. Orientals and trumpets are somewhat tougher. Trumpets and down-facing flowers can be more of a challenge to arrange than upward-facing types. Also, you might want to beware of varieties that get just too big for the bouquets that you sell. For instance, I grow a bright yellow Asi-florum called Golden Tycoon that produced 15+ large flowers per stem at two years old. Only the hugest bouquets can accomodate that. One stem is a bouquet all by itself, in fact the flowers are so big and so close together, it's hard to arrange anything else with it. I've found that there aren't that many customers who like single-stem bouquets. Then there are some very open types, like Arabesque, an Orienpet, that make great big gorgeous downward-facing flowers spaced very well apart on the stems. Gorgeous and airy and graceful in the garden, but too big and too far apart for arranging. A single stem on a two-year-old plant ends up being a two feet+ wide and very gangly. If you can see photos when you're shopping, try to notice how sparsely arranged on the stems the flowers are. Bear in mind that you should leave about half to two-thirds the stem when you cut, unless you pull the entire bulb, so it's best to choose varieties that will be twice as tall as the stem length you are looking for. Florists want ultra-long stems but you needn't be limited by that unless you plan to sell to florists. On some of the varieties that get too big too fast, like Golden Tycoon, you can slow them down somewhat by cutting off a larger proportion of the stem. There are hundreds and hundreds of good varieties. I've listed some that have worked out well for me below, but they are only a few of so many good varieties. The only one I've ever grown that I find simply unusable is a pale pink Asiatic name Pink Superior, which isn't. Superior, that is. The flower is a nice pale pink the day it opens, but starts turning ugly shades of brown and gray the very next day. There is generally only one flower, or none, on the stalk that looks nice. I think it is a florist version, and maybe the flowers look better when cut with no flowers open, then opened in the cooler, but for someone growing them outside, they're a waste of time and space. I've noticed that the general public often refers to any Oriental lily as a Stargazer. I think the growers impregnated that name on their minds a little too well! Sometimes it helps if you educate the customers that ALL Oriental lilies are fragrant and long-lasting like Stargazer. Asiatics and Asi-florums: High Class (red), Gironde (barely-tall-enough yellow), Volendam (orange), Sorpressa (white), Centerfold (white and burgundy), Salmon Classic (peach), Fangio (purplish red), Ercolano (white), and yes, even Golden Tycoon, but only because I did sell some very big arrangements. L.O. Triumphator -it's expensive but WONDERFUL! Orientals: Muscadet, Salmon Jewels, Aubade, Boogie Woogie, Chambertin, Willeke Alberti (a pristine pink-and-white), Casablanca, Siberia, and no doubt I'm forgetting plenty others. Stargazer is a good cut but I only grow a few for reasons stated above. Dizzy is impressive by itself, but I've found it hard to combine with other colors. Those are only the ones I've grown and remember at the moment. They're no better than hundreds of others. Jeanne

Chocolatemoose, I am really happy that we can grow crape myrtles here in MD :o) One of my favorite summer trees. I also stretch zone restrictions a bit by planting some stuff close to the house foundation. Have Calla Lilies, Dahlias, tender Clematis perennialized this way. As for Asiatics, I am not sure what is the culprit. Some of them are wonderful perennials for me (Matrix, Lollipop, Fata Morgana, Black Out, etc.). Some of them never return or decline significantly next year after planting and disappear on the second year (Landini, lots of others). Lost of Asiatics' hybrids do well here (LA lilies). I did not have a single Oriental that return year after year, and I tried tons of them. Some people have Casablanca and it does well, but I do not grow it. I am extremely happy with Orienpets. They are superior to Orientals IMO.

Hi pameliap, Plant as deep as you can leaving the top part of the sprout out of the ground. How much depends on what the sprout looks like. If the sprout is pretty "tight" and the tip bullet shaped then leave just the very tip exposed. Any part that looks like its starting to leaf out keep above ground. After the foliage turns yellow in the Fall you should replant them deeper (8"-10") since lilies are stem rooting and that will provide more nutrition for the plant next Spring (and helps to keep hungry critters from getting them in the winter). It would probably be best (at least for now) to plant in the warmest parts of your garden so they can get as long of a growing season as possible. You live in a warm zone so that should help The problem is that the foliage feeds the bulb mostly AFTER blooming. (That's why late blooming types are more difficult to grow in colder climates.) Luckily the lilies you have are all pretty hardy hybrids with large bulbs when blooming size. So, even if your bulbs don't get much larger this season they'll have the strength to come back and do well. Your Asiatics might even bloom this year. -Helen