Hello everyone,
@Steve2020 and
@Leftwood Right now all my bought bulbs and their offsets are sitting in their large grow bags with good garden soil and with very good drainage. A few of these I already dug a hole and they did their growth with the bag sunken. This was done so that late spring winds wouldn't topple them over
. They are placed in a sheltered position under the "eaves" of a line of cypresses, so even if it freezes, the ground there takes a bit longer to freeze deep. The line, with an eastward facing aspect, is long enough so as to harbour and bury the rest of my above ground bags one next to each other. Deeper under ( where the bulbs are sitting) I doub't that temps will drop much less than -º1 C, even if ambient temps drop to -º6 C. Yes, it will imply some work, I have to count them but there are probably about 30 bags to bury. So in the course of the next 3/4 weeks I can get that done without stressing myself.
Because all my bulbs were pretreated, their first season performance was very weird. One of the same kind bloomed, the other did so, two months later. One never showed up and rotted, the other bloomed nicely early summer . These , of a first batch of 28 varieties, were placed in my warm greenhouse during all winter and showed this array of growth. In spring once the danger of frost was over ( here it is end of November) I placed them outside in that sheltered position. So of this initial purchase I did have losses but also many that grew nicely, but with no blooms. I would expect these to have healthy bulbs underneath, and with season's clock adapted/reverted.
Then I got a second batch in late spring ( early November). This group fared poorly. Although growing with no temp damage, only half of them ever showed sprouts, and of these about 5 different varieties are finishing their blooms just now. I'm missing a trial with bulbs bought mid-winter and grown inside the warm greenhouse. From watching their behaviour inside my house, a week after arrival all bulbs show their center sprout, so they ought to be placed inside a bag or in the ground in the warm greenhouse. Since the area in the greenhouse ,I share it with our veggies commercial venture ,I can use it only as transient space thus the grow bag strategy. I witnessed lack of elongation of the main stem of many of the varieties I bought during the short winter days. Things began to change after days started to lengthen as of August 15 onwards. So apart from temperature, I should take that in account so as to best adjust when to purchase these bulbs. Whatever is being offered is targetted at the cut flower trade which is grown commercially way up north with none of these issues at stake. So Steve, you are correct, about how complex it is to find adapted bulbs on sale. That means I can buy bulbs any time but will they adapt here in the south is a different issue! So thanks to everyone up there that has experience with lilies I'm figuring out how to sequence every step. Bulbs are not very pricey, so I can afford spending taking into account all of these handicaps. If I were later to offer these adapted bulbs for sale here I will need to take this added cost into account. My first estimate is that about 50% of a buy will make it through. I keep notes of which fared how. I admit that the vendor will not give me inhouse info of how long have their bulbs been stored and in what exact conditions so I have to take what I'm given or leave them. I'm way too far south of their regular market. I'm taking the risks...
Of course bulbs raised from seed, have none of these issues, but it takes quite a long time before I see a flower. Meanwhile like anyone in the gardening world I need the stimulus of a gorgeous lily hybrid with a heavenly fragrance to boldly stare at my face!
That makes up for the losses and miscalculations
Mine are mainly, Orientals and Orientpets, a few Longiflorum hybrids and one or two Asiatics. Up to here all in all, I must say again
to everyone, because I did manage to get them through this adaptation process fairly well. That is why I want to ensure their winter survival. If they do so, I'll know it next spring, when natural sprout emergence occurrs. Then by march 2023 I'll find a spot in the ground in my general garden space a leave them alone, hoping to enjoy their beauty for years to come...
Arturo
