Asiatic Lillies

[seaellare]

Being that this is my first winter with any sort of flowers in the ground, I have a question regarding my asiatic lillies. The flowers have fallen off, and I have left the stems/leaves to feed the bulbs, as I have read to do. However - the stems and leaves are now starting to turn yellow/brown - is this normal? I have been watering them, same as when they were blooming. I have not fertilized though, other than the soil that I transplanted them into. Should I apply any fertilizer now? Everything that I have read is to let them die back on their own, but is it normal for them to be turning like that?

Also, while I am thinking about it, someone ran over a few of them shortly after they were planted (they are at the corner of my driveway), and the stem was broken. I removed the broken piece, but left the rest in the ground, hoping that it was not the end of the plant. Is there any chance of it growing through next spring, or am I just wishful thinking? There actually are a few that broke off - one got blown over in some real strong wind (was only about 8" tall), one got flattened by my son's basketball, and then the ones that were run over... Not a good place to have planted them I guess...

Thanks!!
Christine

[grandpasrose]

Hi Christine! Boy your lilies sure have had a tough time of it haven't they? Not to worry though.
Yes, they are supposed to start dying back anytime now - turning yellow, and then brown. One thing you should do when they are finished blooming, is trim off the stem to just below where the seed head will form. This will ensure that all the energy the leaves gather will go into building the bulb's energy for next year, instead of trying to grow seeds - just like dead-heading.

Asiatic lilies are a bulb, so even if the top is damaged during the summer, they should still come back next year.
They should not be fertilized now, except to give them a treatment of bonemeal (to help the bulb develop larger), and a helping of well rotted compost over top. This will drift down over the winter and give them all the nutrients they need to bloom for you next summer.

They still need to be watered though, (not kept soggy) as the bulb is still growing underground.
I hope this allays your fears, they should be fine.

Feel free to stop in if you have further questions, or just to chat!

Val

[Guest]

try this link it might help as I don't know to much about themhttp://www.bdlilies.com/asiatics.html