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nattydoll

Popular ORANGE flowers from nursery?

nattydoll
9 years ago

Hi. I know this is a popular plant - a few people have them in my neighborhood - but my mom threw out the tag after transplanting it from the container.

These are about a foot tall, came with three stalks in the container, with big, bright orange flowers on top of the stalks. After putting them in the ground, the flowers fell off the tops. One of the outer stalks eventually looked dead and dry, so I pulled it up. It came out very easily, as if the roots had turned to mush. Why did this happen? I would normally guess overwatering, but they are in very dry, quickly draining soil, with full sun and daily watering...

What kinda flower, and if you have an idea, what is the problem and how do I get the flowers to grow again?

PS: These are in the NYC area. We had a cherry tree in the box on the lawn years ago, but it was ripped out by the roots in Hurricane Sandy. Since then, there have been saplings and weeds in the box. Most were pulled out when this was transplanted. Also some mint growing in the box.

Comments (12)

  • garystpaul
    9 years ago

    Asiatic lily. I don't know why the one stalk died, but the others, if treated right, will bloom again (next year).

  • calliope
    9 years ago

    Probably Asiatic lilies. They will bloom in season and there is nothing you 'have' to do to make them. When you buy things like lilies, it's best to buy them in bud, so you can enjoy the show.

  • Deeby
    9 years ago

    Asiatic lilies are fatally poisonous to cats. Even breathing the pollen can kill them. My vet has a huge sign in his practice about this. Posting this in case someone reading this thread doesn't know.

  • nattydoll
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Deeby - Are they dangerous for humans? Because the box is somewhat protected from dogs and cats on the street level, there is mint, string beans, and a bell pepper growing in there!

    I hope it is still safe to keep in there. Otherwise, we will have to transplant the lillies.

    Any idea why the flowers fell off so quickly?

  • duluthinbloomz4
    9 years ago

    Each lily bloom lasts for maybe 5 or so days before they start to fade and drop off. The one that died might simply have been a "bad bulb" - done in completely by daily watering. The bulbs are self contained units and provide pretty much what they need on their own. Some water, yes, when they're actively growing and setting blooms; now when they're undergoing their annual natural decline and the remaining leaves and stems are helping to replenish the bulbs for next season's growth, having them sitting in wet soil is not a good idea. They will rot.

    Planting them in a box with other things that have heavy water requirements is not the best of ideas and you might think about separating the lilies out of that environment.

    Unless one has allergies or sensitivities, I've never known lily pollen to bother humans.

  • casia_nh
    9 years ago

    I am allergic to lily pollen. I discovered this from having lilies in the house. As soon as the flowers opened up, my head got stuffy and my eyes felt like someone had put sand in them. The flowers were also bothering a friend of mine who happened to be visiting who has asthma. The house is now a no lily zone, although I have tons of them in the yard. I think the enclosed space makes all the difference. I never knew that these plants were poisonous to cats. It makes perfect sense now.

  • nattydoll
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hmm. It *does* get watered a little bit daily, but the soil is so dry and sandy, and it is in direct sun from 11am or noon until night. We water out of fear of it literally drying up. I give the beans water very close to the plant, careful not to drip over to the flower's section.

    My aunt has these upstate, and hers look much better. So do others in my neighborhood. On the two remaining stalks, the leaves are also turning dark purple, from the ground up. They are still smooth and shiny, though.

    Is the color change bc the sun? watering? or because I have been adding a *little* bit of coffee grounds to the beans' area? It's to keep away slugs, and has really been helping the beans grow fast.

    Is this one dormant now? Am I supposed to trim down the stalk to the ground level once it stops producing flowers for the year?

  • duluthinbloomz4
    9 years ago

    They're not dormant; the stems and leaves are dying back to replenish the bulbs for nest season - cut them down now and you'll be robbing the bulb. I would wait until later in the season when the leaves have turned yellow (or less purple and really dead-ish) and the stems are brown and woody. Then I would transplant them out of the box and away from things with heavy water requirements. Lily bulbs simply do not need daily waterings - especially now when they're under going their natural decline.

    If your aunt and neighbors have them planted in the ground, they have a much better chance of performing well.

  • nattydoll
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hmm, my aunt's are in a container, with at least 6 in there, close together. People in the neighborhood have them all over, at stumps of trees, in beds filled with all kinds of plants...

    If they are at least 8 inches away from the nearest plants in the box, and I am careful to water my beans low to the ground, do you think they will be ok to survive in the same location until next year? I'm reluctant to dig them out, bc the hole made for them was very, very deap, and I'm lazy/worried I'll disturb the bulbs.

    It's also growing some kind of green pods on top, where the flowers were. Not sure if they are seeds or bulbils. Any thoughts?

  • duluthinbloomz4
    9 years ago

    The pods are the forming seeds. Bulbils are dark little balls that form at the juncture of the stem and leaf axils on some lilies. If you want the plant to use energy in seed production, leave them. If you want the bulb to get the energy, snip the pods off.

    The only way you'll know if they will survive in their current environment is if they sprout next spring.

    The nice thing about Asiatic lilies is that - if you do have a failure - replacements are readily available at a reasonable price virtually everywhere from Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, regular garden centers, etc. and in a wide range of colors from orange to yellow, white, pink, burgundy, mahogany... There are Pixies and Tinys and standards to choose from.

  • nattydoll
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    UUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGH

    Since it's been so rainy this week, one of the groundskeepers/handymen that works with the super goes around using a leaf blower to clean up fallen leaves on my block. He pulled up the two remaining lily stalks, thinking they were dead!

    I was letting them dry up, like you all said, and waiting for the seed pod to fall off, to experiment with it on my own. It was almost getting there. The stalks were very dry looking, all the way to the top, but didn't feel "hollow" enough for me to cut them.

    Are you supposed to cut them with a scissor, or can they be pulled?

    Could these survive?

    My mom planted them in a *deep* hole. The holes in the ground where he pulled them don't look big enough for the bulbs to have been pulled...

    So annoyed. I confronted the guy and he said he wouldn't do it next time... But those were the only two we had. Not to mention, the blast from the leaf blower has been knocking down some of my plants, and that I collect the dry leaves and bark for mulch, making the area neater myself.

    rant>

  • xiangirl zone 4/5 Nebraska
    9 years ago

    If he had pulled up the bulbs, he would have known it and wouldn't have pulled up both. Since the stalks were drying out that's probably all he got. You might put a little marker there to remind yourself where they are until next year.
    I feel for you and the seed pods. I think everyone who reads it will shed tears with you. I'm sure the lilies will come back and the anticipation is equally exciting as the bloom itself with asiatic lilies!
    Heidi