Hi. New I'm a brand new member to the forum, and I was looking for some guidance on dividing Orienpet Lilies. I have an Anastasia OT lily that I planted last spring. It grew and bloomed beautifully. It was the earliest of my OT lilies and just thrived in my garden. This year it is even bigger and blooming wonderfully. This is the most vigorous growing lily I have grown.
This spring, she came up great and is blooming beautifully. She is almost 5' tall. The strange thing is she made 8 new stems this spring. Not little stems that won't bloom. Six of the new stems are big 2-3' stems with large blooms that will open any day now. The six are comparable to 2nd year asiatics, and big ones at that.
My goal was to have one very tall lily. I am concerned that by next year, this spot will be very over crowded, and hold back the original stem from getting to the giant height I was hoping for.
I'm familiar with the normal technique of digging up the entire clump and dividing. I don't want to loose "momentum" on that original stem/bulb getting to its tallest possible height.
What I am thinking of trying is to dig a deep hole to the side of the new stems, and very carefully remove some of the new stems and bulbs, while trying not to disturb the original bulb and roots. My soil is extremely easy to work (I can dig down using just my fingers) and I'm a very patient gardener so I can take my time and be careful.
Does this sound like it's do able.
Any advice or strategy is greatly appreciated.
Cheers

It sounds like it produced some stem bulblets last year that have grown quite well - enough to produce a few flowers for you this year!

Wait until autumn/fall when the stems are starting to die back, then you can carefully dig down beside the main bulb and remove the smaller bulbs. If the main bulb has actually produced multiple noses, though, then your only option is to dig up the whole clump and split it.

If you do have to dig up the entire clump, the more roots you can keep intact the better. That will reduce any impact from dig and replanting.

Thank you for the quick reply Australis.
So stem bulblets should be fairly shallow compared to the original bulb, and it should be pretty obvious.
Could you elaborate more on what multiple noses are, and would look like. I'm guessing the 'new' stem would appear to be part of the original bulb as I follow it down in the case of multiple noses.
Thanks again!

You are most welcome.

Here is a photo I annotated back in 2017 show multiple noses to a family member. In this case you can see that it is in the process of dividing, but the older outer scales have not fallen apart yet. It would ready to divide the following year, once it was possible to cleanly separate the noses:



And one of a bulb that I dug up before it died back (I think I had decided to cull this one, so used it as an example). You can see the newly-formed stem bulblets develop above the main bulb and will slowly pull themselves down to the right level. They should not be attached to the main bulb in any way - they should be obvious and easier to dig up than the main bulb:

Yes, if the multiple stems come from stem bulblets, they should be much more easily removed without disturbing the mother bulb.

But it sounds much more likely that the mother bulb has divided, as Australis shows above. A profusion of divisions, like yours, is often caused by hot conditions (mostly in the soil), the bulb planted too shallowly, or physical damage to the bulb (but not life threatening). Sometimes it is just plain vigor, and with good soil like yours, that very well could be!

You have such good, friable soil that I wouldn't hesitate about digging it up at the right time of the year. The biggest set back that happens when digging and planting/transplanting bulbs is loss of the roots. In most people's gardens, their soil is much heavier, and most of the root structure tends to break off. We don't have to worry about the tiniest roots; they grow back very quickly. We want to keep all the larger roots, so they can be repositioned optimally when transplanting so that there will be ample space for smaller, feeder roots to grow. This shouldn't be any problem for you in your loose soil. Using a digging fork (not a shovel or pitch fork) will more easily accomplish the task. If you don't have one, I recommend you invest in one. You may find it preferable for many chores.

Australis thank you for the excellent pics, that's exactly what I wanted to see! The terminology in the pics is great and extremely useful.

Left wood I think you are correct that the mother bulb has in fact divided. I think this one in particular is just extremely vigorous. It just blows my mind that a second year OT can put up that many stems in the 2-3' range, many with multiple blooms and buds 4-5" long just like the mother. Quite a few of the new stems are opening and blooming today, so it's quite the bonus of "extra credit". I built this bed last year. I excavated down to river rock and filled the bed using leaf mold, compost, rock dust, small aged bark nuggets, and perlite. It's super easy to just plunge my fingers down into the soil, so I should have no problem being careful with the basal roots should I end up pulling the whole mother bulb. I'm old enough, and patient enough to take my time and be careful. I'm also excited to spread the new bulbs to some other beds. This far north, having an extremely early OT is a welcome addition to any of my beds.
Thanks folks! I'm glad I found this forum filled with so many knowledgeable and friendly gardeners.
I just figured out how to add pics, so I will post a pic or two this afternoon.
Cheers

I am also in my second season with Anastasia, and given where it is growing, I am equally impressed!

Are you in Alaska?

Left wood I am in Alaska. Just South of Anchorage zone 4a/5b.
Below is a pic of my Anastasia I have been talking about. (There is pretty woman ot on the right with a Pink Tiger right in front of that. )


Opposite side.


It's the shorter ones in bloom or getting close that I'm wanting to remove at the end of the season.
I have two other Anastasia from the same batch in other spots.
This second one made two big stems this year, and some small stems. The small ones are what I have considered normal growth and I have always thought they would be stem bulblets.



This third one seems normal. No extra stems, just little ones from bulblets.



It's kind of interesting. I do know that this thing checks the boxes for early, vigorous, ot lily. I also have a couple more spots in the yard that I'm itching to try these. Looks like I have at least 6 subject prime for the task.
Thanks again for taking the time to help me figure this out. Greatly appreciated!
Cheers

Umm...

This is Anastasia




I don't know what yours is, but I'll bet someone here does....
Nevertheless, everything said here about dividing the lily still applies.

Sorry, LilyAK, I'm in agreement with Rick (Leftwood) - your plant isn't 'Anastasia', but all the information here about dividing it still applies.

It looks like either an Asiatic or LA hybrid. Not sure of an ID off the top of my head.

Rick and Joahua are right. You have some LA hybrid not OT 'Anastasia'.

There are a number of similar lilies but what I would say is it sure would be welcome in my garden!

Thanks guys. I was starting to wonder about the more upfacing flowers on mine, compared to what the catalog showed. Sounds like I got one of those mislabeled bags of bulbs I've been reading about. No more bulbs from Breck's or other Dutch sources for me. I'm sticking with the Lily Garden and other more local sources. I love the Asiatics and Martagons from LG.
None the less, she is still a welcome addition to my gardens. I've been wondering how LA hybrids do in my area. I will look at more of those. It drives me nuts not knowing what cultivar I'm growing. If anyone recognizes it, please shout it out.
Thanks again a whole bunch to all the friendly, helpful folks here for helping me figure these things out.
Cheers

I looked back at my records/invoices and it was actually Holland Bulb Farms that I purchased my misnamed Anastasia (77497) from. Luckily the other 3 types of Lilies I got on that order all have been what that claimed.
Cheers

I once bought a bag of "mixed" Asiatic lilies from Brand X company. Every single one opened the same lily. And every single one was quite virused!

This is actually my second experience with getting lily bulbs that aren't what they were supposed to be. I had ordered some Purple Eye Asiatics that were far from being the right thing. I got super tall, super late, solid red, downward facing flowers with red bumps that look like a textbook OT lily. Very beautiful, and they too are welcome to stay in my garden. I sourced some Purple Eye asiatics from somewhere else, and they are true to form and color. The incorrect ones came from Tulip World. Coincidentally, both Tulip World and Holland Bulb Farms ship from the same exact address in Milwaukee WI. When I first started playing with Lilies I wasn't aware of just how many were out there, or where to source the best stuff. I was using companies that I had been getting tulips from. I have long since quit using them for Tulips as well. Believe it or not, it's still challenging to find companies that ship to AK. The Lily Garden has treated me to the best looking bulbs I've ever seen, with outstanding results.
Cheers

If you check out Dave's garden watchdog
You will see reviews of all sorts of companies both good and bad

It may also help you find some to stay away from and ones that ship to Alaska

Great place to see actual customer reviews

It drives me nuts not knowing what cultivar I'm growing.

Welcome to the club haha. I also hated that when I grew hybrids.
And also I hated misslabeled bulbs but that is "normal" thing with lilies.

Thanks EricNY, I will check Dave's site out.
Lucius93 I'm starting to learn that about Lily bulbs.
Cheers

Lucius93 said:And also I hated misslabeled bulbs but that is "normal" thing with lilies.

It really depends on the supplier. Some nurseries here are much, much better than others, especially those that offer their own hybrids. Many of the "big box stores" or hardware store brands I don't trust; a couple of brands in particular just seem to only be concerned that it's the same colour as the cultivar on the label!