Lilies are summer flowering bulbs and any summer flowering bulb can be planted in spring. But it does depend on who you are purchasing them from, when they were harvested and how they've been stored. Unlike most other summer flowering bulbs, lilies (most) require a chill period for vernalization. Better bulb dealers will either have harvested them in fall and stored them correctly under proper temperature conditions or harvested them in late winter. I plant virtually all my lilies in spring as that is when my local suppliers have the largest selection. And I know how they harvest and store their bulbs :-) The only issues I have ever had with spring planted lilies are those that tempted me from big box stores or Costco.......they are just not the same quality as those I obtain from specialty lily growers. IMO, you get what you pay for.

I have a couple of questions about growing Stargazer and Tiger Lilies in Zone 10. I bought some spring-planted Tiger Lily Bulbs online which ended up growing into Stargazer Lilies and I also bought Stargazer Lily Bulbs at my local gardening store but, they are having a bit of trouble sprouting. After my lilies begin to die what should I do with them? I read that in zone 10 you have to refrigerate the bulbs because they need to be cold for a while before planting them again in the spring. So when should I refrigerate them and for how long? Also, what should I put them in when I refrigerate them? My Stargazer Lily Bulbs are spring bulbs and I am planning on purchasing Tiger Lily bulbs again for the fall which will be fall bulbs. Does it matter if half of my bulbs are spring bulbs and the other half are fall bulbs? Do I have to refrigerate them at different times because of my hardiness zone or it doesn't really matter? I am thinking about refrigerating half of my lily bulbs and leaving the other half in the pots that I have them in to see if there will be a difference between them.

I've gotten so tired of the iris, but Kathi has inspired me to stick a couple in a pot! I'll do that! I'm weary of summer gardening and have no interest in planting bulbs. Like the weather, I'm winding down. I do remember a terrible heat wave last year in October. Our A/C broke then! Veggies, I stuck some sugar snap peas seeds in the ground. Early this month I planted a zucchini, and it's looking good. Maybe I'll get a few squash before the season is over. I'll leave the peppers in the ground for quite a while longer, as long as they produce. Harvested the pumpkins in July--pretty early--but they look ok. I'll put them out for the fall/Halloween decoration in front. The roses got a shot of alfalfa last month. They get SuPoMag in October. The camellias have buds, but I'm surprised the "Christmas cactus" does not yet. Chrysanthemum has buds. Their smell just reminds me of fall the way marigolds and tomatoes' smells remind me of summer. I hope to split the daylilies in the next week or so unless we get a heat wave. This must be so boring to everyone, but it forced me to think about what's going on in the yard. Thanks, Renee. Good list.

FYI: Some sellers (esp. the less expensive ones such as John Scheepers/Van Engelen) don't offer lilies in the Spring - others vary their selection. For example, Brent & Becky's offer their less cold hardy lilies such as Longiflorum and Formosanum only in their summer catalog (spring planting). But their Summer catalog also includes a good selection of other lilies. Their current and their past summer catalogs are posted on their website if you want to see how the two selling seasons differ. If there's a particular lily you want in the Spring call them up and ask if they're going to offer it. They're very friendly. -Helen