Nth. Am. Lilium
johngrimshaw@tiscali.co.uk (Sun, 20 Jun 2004 23:06:13 PDT)

Mary Sue asked me how I flowered L. pardalinum "pitkinense" from seed in its
second year:

It is my firm belief that lilies should be treated as herbaceous perennials
and not as 'bulbs' when growing from seed. Bulb growers like to take ages
growing things from seed; growers of perennials push them along. I like to
prick out lily seedlings into plugs or small pots shortly after
germination/emergence, and keep potting them on every time the roots fill
the pot - may be 3 or more times in the first year. Of course this means
keeping them well watered and fertilised, but they will just keep growing
all summer. A cool but bright greenhouse is best. This way a reasonably
sized bulb develops in the first year; in the second year it can be grown in
a larger pot and either pushed along in the same way with a repot, or just
left to it, with plenty of feeding as before. Flowers in the second season
are unusual except in L. formosanum et al., but most trumpet lilies etc will
flower in the third season quite happily with this regime.

John Grimshaw

Dr John M. Grimshaw
Garden Manager, Colesbourne Gardens

Sycamore Cottage
Colesbourne
Nr Cheltenham
Gloucestershire GL53 9NP

Website: http://www.colesbournegardens.org.uk/