In my opinion they are equivalents of proliferations in daylilies (small plantlets growing on the flowering stems), they are not the same as bulbils on L.tigrinum . It's like keikis on orchids. I had them on Casablanca lily, which normally does not produce bulbils. You can try to increase number of them by making small incisions on the stem where the leaves grow from.

As far as the orchids are concerned, keikis are believed to be a sign of, that the mother plant "thinks" it's going to die, that's why it tries to reproduce itself this way. Perhaps there are some problems with the bulb? They can look healthy from above but rotting at the crown.

This post was edited by wieslaw59 on Thu, Aug 15, 13 at 12:28

Thank you :)
Uh oh, I hope the bulb isn't rotting....i'll admit it's been rained on one too many times and it takes a while to dry out...but couldn't that be because it is dormant/going dormant? Is fall a good time to plant it?

You can try planting it out, no guarantees that it will bloom much less survive the winter. Usually, the leaves are left on a lily after blooming to build up reserves for next year's bloom.

I think they usually bloom around the end of june through mid july right? I got this when blooms were nearly done in april. It held onto it's leaves for a good 2-3 months. I'll probably plant it near my house to ensure it survives the winter. Not getting reliable hardiness info on it.

mine bloomed first 2 weeks of june.
I overwinter mine indoors, since I can't plant them out. you can repot yours (look at the bulb, trim bad scales if necessary, do not cut off the roots), water very lightly and let sit in the garage over winter. it should never completely dry out. give it a few dribbles of water once a month.
as far as stem bulbils: it's normal behavior. you can detach those and plant , barely covered. but they will take 2 years to grow.
here's what mine look like now. the little one on the cap fell off a couple of weeks ago, I stuck it in the same pot with a just the tip showing, it produced the root already.
another fell off as I was taking the pic. they are probably best grown above freezing the 1st year indoors in cool room. but it's easier to maintain them in the soil. if you cover the top of pot with plastic and keep it in the garage, the soil will remain slightly moist for a very long time - and they will be growing, but very slowly, mostly developing roots, which is what you want.
by the way, on the pic the thin stem on the right is 'a baby' plant that just grew leaves 1st year and it already produced a stem bulbil.
it's not because they are dying or grown poorly.

This post was edited by petrushka on Fri, Aug 16, 13 at 13:49

here's another one with larger bulbils and one leaf going (cotyledon - it's a seed leaf). a little fuzzy, hard to take.
I read that sometimes it's hard to produce this first leaf. it's best to let them grow roots first at around 10-14C.
you're better asking in lily forum for details.
oh, they usually plant them when they are at least pea-sized.

This post was edited by petrushka on Fri, Aug 16, 13 at 15:47

Petrushka,
Your bulbils are kinda cute.lol. I'm in z6b, do you think i'll have to overwinter it indoors? I do have an unheated garage that might work. I'll at least overwinter bulbils indoors, they probably wont survive any freezing. Hopefully I can find a microclimate for the mature bulbs.

search lily forum, I remember other people asking about hardiness of easter lily. helps to mulch sev inches. my notes say plant 8" deep and mulch heavily.
of course the bulbils are cute! that's why I stick them back into soil and then we'll see what could be done. beats throwing them out.
I was going to chuck them last year in the fall, but the bulbs and roots looked so-o healthy, I just couldn't!
since I can't dig them in the garden and I am in a hi-rise, no garage, I've been experimenting overwintering in the apt.
I do have a balcony, so keep them out until thanksgiving. they need 4-6 weeks of 40-50F chill to bloom next year. then it's the cool (60-62F) window for a couple of months. it worked much better when I covered the tops with plastic - that retarded the growth of sprouts considerably and they were not spindly at all.
so my lilies bloomed on the balcony, all 3 of them. I was very happy. here they are indoors, so I can smell them better :).

Easter lilies will be hardy for you in zone 6b since they are fully hardy here on the cold edge of zone 5. Plant them in the ground any time and they will be fine as long as you don't have voles. In zone 6 they might not get enough chill in a garage, so I would plant them in the garden.

Petrushka and nhbabs,
Thanks for the info :)

Petrushka your lilies look wonderful!

Lilium longiflorum is not hardy in Denmark zone 7 and 8. Even in an unheated greenhouse it succeeded to survive only one winter without cover. I imagine it would take a huge amount of cover to protect it in a cold part of zone 5. And if it sometimes survives, the new shoots are very frost sensitive.
Some clones of Lilium formosanum are slightly more hardy, especially var. pricei. Some people confuse these two species, calling both Easter lilies(something I've read, have never been in America, just for the record, in case some weirdo would like to attack me again).

Whatever species or hybrid is sold in American as the "East Lily", yes they have survived outside in my garden for few seasons, right next to the house, which I assume is slightly more protected in our winters. But i would never consider them reliable around here.

I would assume I'm the "weirdo" being referred to and what I just posted is considered an "attack". Good grief!

Kevin

Kevin, LOL, no, you are not the weirdo this time. So guess again. But if you feel guilty, I can easily find something for you too. It was not you who implied, that if I did not personally grow any particular plant in the USA, then I cannot have a useful opinion about it. Or was it?

This post was edited by wieslaw59 on Sun, Aug 18, 13 at 9:22