well today is the day the cloth beds are all set up and the soil put in and then the rest of the bulbs will go in for the lilies. will likely be a couple of days to get all this done but the question I have is an odd one to say the least

first of all the plan was to have a big elevated bed at the other side of the house made out of pressure treated lumber and so on. Since I was not going to get it done on time.....to plant my bulbs..... the lilies went into pots....... some of them not all of them though. A lot of the potted lilies are my species lilies..

Now the beds will be set up today ..........what do I do with the potted lilies. I was told you can plant them into the garden at any time ......after they are potted but they are not up as of yet and do not want to break the tips when they are put into the big bed....

what is the best way to do this?? wait till fall and then transplant the pots into the big bed?? there are about 24 plus pots out there and lots of money invested....so not sure what to do here...... they were already sprouting when I planted the lilies 6 inches deep.......and that was a couple of weeks ago now.......so I am sure they are up even more now with the warmer temps we have been getting. New week we are really warm here........... this week it is a bit cooler....
also next week is calling for lots of rain on and off........ warm rain.

lets here your wisdom.....I am sure that this has come up before somewhere........

for me? if you really want the new bed(s) to have lily's in it/them, then I would place the pots with the lily's right in the beds and cover them with dirt. just plant the pot! maybe leave about 1/2 inch of the rim exposed for easy removal later. ive done it many times in the past and no one is the wiser. I wouldnt risk uprooting bulbs that have already been planted. not at this point anyway. just leave them to finish out the season. I dont think it would necessarily harm them to replant them now, but I dont think they would benefit from it either. but since they're already on their way up, I would leave them in their pots and call it good. then yeah, replant them how you'd like in fall.

thanks Jason that might just work good here
I did think of just putting the pots into the bed but not adding any more soil to them since they have a depth of 12Inches already.......and the cloth beds are 12inches.....
but they would look better with some dirt planted around them...........
I understand your point and might just do that.......than

Do put soil around the pots if you put them in the bed(s). The lilies will appreciate the temperature mediation that it provides, and you won't need to water as often. Burying the pot up to the lip is best, but even with the soil only half way up the pot, it is a significant plus. Remember, when you water, you care about the moisture inside the pots, not outside. There will likely be a big difference.

I guess everyone knows what a cloth bed is, except me....
Is it a temporary pseudo greenhouse (covered with cloth)?

http://www.amazon.ca/High-Cali...

those are what I ordered but only have 13.5 feet of garden space In them so not that big......I have 5 of them

they still take a half a yard of soil to fill them..........

will give me some room to spread out my lilies verses one large bed

and add this one as well to another area of the yard.....
they are each about 9 inches deep and was not sure that was deep enough for lily bulbs........

http://www.amazon.ca/Lifetime-...

you can put them on top of one another for 18 inches
or use the separately and put the green house top on in the spring time and rather like the idea for seedlings..and such
but not sure how hot it will get in that bed..........or for that matter you water it.........unless you take it on and off and on and off

the Nepalense is getting its own garden with a top made out of pexi glass that is attached to my shed so I can cover it from rain and additional wet in the winter....

Now I have another question about these cloth beds............

I was talking to the lily nook last night........ a few bulbs are still on the way......

Nigel was saying he was wandering how the 12 inch deep beds will be with a cold winter here in zone 5. we get plenty of snow to insulate the beds but is more the cold on the sides that he is worried about and thought might or might not be an issue........
they are round.......
do I just put an additional couple of frost blankets around the side of it
or LOTS of mulch on top of the bed.........

he said they might have been fine without a bottom built in but they still breathe there as well

kinda lost on how to approach this
but winter will come
3 of them are planted and filled now and so on
3 more are still being planted and filled yet.....

any thoughts on this

I have a lot of money tied up in these bulbs this year.............
just wandering how to insulate the big round bed over winter......more or if I have too

he says as far as napelense is concerned......he is just planted them under a bush and he is zone 3 and thinks they might be fine there and come up this year. he says sometimes they do and some years he looses them due to the winter..... he thought covering mine with a plexie glass for the fall would work good once is done blooming and the raise it for the snow to cover the ground.. I was thinking of putting plastic over them in the ground but he liked the idea of the glass shelf that moved up and over the small tiny garden on a slant better......
willing to hear what you all have to say

I do use 12 inch wide boards when I make raised beds. This one sits right on top of what was grass. I too, have wondered and worried about what the soil temperature is like in winter. Before heavy snow (but long after the ground freezes), I place filled mulch bags all around the sides of the box, set as you see here.

The bags extend above the box and help to hold the leaf mulch in place that cover the surface. (Our strong prairie winds tend to blow away leaves that are elevated like that.)

that is a good idea
my gardens are round but this would still work to go around them somehow I think
thanks for the tip......
we have very strong winds here too in the winter