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Moving house
Gingerfingers
Posts: 28
Hi - we are about to move house and we want to take our lilies. They are some kind of Asian lily bought from qvc as a bulb and once flowered I leave in soil/pot til they grow the following year. They have finished flowering but still green but starting to die back having produced seed pods. Note they never seed properly. If I don't want to take all the soil but just the bulbs and empty pots and over winter as bulbs is there a risk of doing this now?is there a process to follow - e.g. Cut plant above soil level and remove bulb wrapping in paper etc?
would greatly appreciate any help here!
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Posts
May be easier just to lift the whole pot. It seems a lot of work to knock them out of the pot and then having to replant them at the other end.
Hogweed - thanks for the response but should I be over wintering in paper and replanting each year anyway?
Most people just leave lilies in situ Gingerfingers. They're hardy. It's best to remove the flowerheads when they finish, rather than letting them go to seed, so that the plant doesn't waste energy. It will put it into the bulb instead for the following year. Leave the stems till they've died back and either leave them there or remove them to make the plant tidy. Then just tuck them somewhere sheltered where they won't get drowned in wet weather over winter - a house wall for instance - and they'll start pushing through again once spring comes. That's when you can remove some of the old compost and replace it with new.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Fairy girl - I'm slowly learning
Three years ago I got lily Beetles and thought they were lovely and red. Great to have more wildlife in the garden. Then I found out not indigenous and a right pain. So ever since I squish and have regular beetle patrols. Thanks for your advice. How do I split the bulbs? My tubs are over full this year. Also should I just break off of the seed heads now as I didn't dead head?
Might as well leave the heads till the whole stem dies back unless you have a few which haven't gone to seed yet. You can usually separate bulbs quite easily if they've got a bit congested. Just tease them apart gently and re plant each one giving it a bit more room. Best to do it when they're dormant probably, although I've done it after flowering without too much problem. It's just a question of keeping an eye on them and not letting them get dried out if you do. You might see some small bulbils forming around the main bulbs - those will eventually become full sized bulbs.
The lily beetles are a pain. I haven't had too much problem up here with them, but it's just a case of being vigilant, early on in particular. They're sneaky little b***ers!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...