Hi, the foliage on my orienpet lilies ('Ormea') are looking terrible this year in zone 5B NY. Anyone know what this discoloration means and what can be done? Last year they looked fine. I don't like fertilizing, try to let my soil give the plant what it needs, even though it's probably not doing the job! I amend with compost yearly. Thanks for your help!

What does the bloom look like?

Very healthy! Here's a photo:

Could it be a magnesium deficiency? Here the leaves can suffer from "interveinal chlorosis", where the veins are green, but the space between is yellow. Does the plant to the bottom right in the last photo have similar, but less pronounced, symptoms too? If it is this, then Epsom salts would help address the problem. This can be dissolved in water and applied as a foliar spray, or just worked into the surrounding soil. Just a thought.

Thanks for responding, Steve. It doesn't look like the typical chlorosis issue as you describe above, that I've had with other plants like azalea. This yellowing is a more random/abstract/blotchy pattern.The plant that snuck into the photo on the right is an aster....and the discoloration is not happening with them, only the lilies. I could try the Epsom, just to see? I might send an email off to B&D lilies, in your neck of the woods, to see what they think!

Did the leaves just grow out like that, or did the the stem completed its growth and then this happened? Did it all happen at once, or did it come on incrementally, starting at one place then spreading?

I can't remember exactly, but it seems the leaves got that way pretty much from the beginning (by May), or at least early on in the emergence of the stem. The wonderful Bob from B&D lilies is pretty confident it is NOT a virus, but heat related (a kind of sunstroke), because of increased temps. And even though we had a cool spring here in Zone 5B, the plants are in a hot southwest location. I'm going to consider moving these in fall to a location that gets more dappled afternoon light, which I believe orientals/orienpets might prefer. Thanks for your response!