I remembered them in May and planted a few tall ones in the garden in mid-May. There was a risk of them getting frosted but I did it anyway. Then I got busy with the home stuff again and forgot I had more squirreled away. The ones I did plant are doing fine; from 8 inches to 12 inches tall. But what about the others? I have calla liles too that I was going to try for the first time.

One package I opened looks bad: the tubers are shriveled. Those were short ones I was planning to put in my deck pots. Others (Bishop’s children, Akita and some tall, 36 to 48" ones) have long, 8" pale shoots.

It’s the middle of June! Am I wasting my time to plant these now? Will I get nothing but leaves before frost?

I wonder if there is some schedule/ frame of reference for planting out and days to bloom? Kind of like tomato plants, when you buy them they give you a day until the first fruit is ripe.

I still think it'd be better to plant them and hope for an extended season, rather than let them shrivel or go to waste.

I was really late to get my entire collection in this year because I was going to build a new bed for them (I gave their old home to new lilies this year). Mine went in around a week ago. I'm anxious to see if I get any blooms this year, especially considering how late I got any blooms last year and an early killing frost. Ironically, I had been proud of myself for getting them in as early as I did last year! However, we had a terribly long, cool and wet spring/early summer last year. On that note, we've had the opposite weather patterns this year, July weather all through May (mid-80's for 3 solid weeks, then just a handful of low to mid 70's otherwise). I'm hoping I can push them a bit with a fertilizing scheme I have in my head (High nitrogen for a little while, then lowering the N and upping the phosphorous a bit. They're now in wine barrels so I think I have an okay shot at controlling nutrients.). Anyone else think this could help?

Regardless, I have come to terms with the possibility of no blooms...

Are you the type to go through the process of pulling up and storing them? If so, there is no reason not to plant them up and allow them to grow foliage to feed the tubers and then give it a fresh go next season.

Linnea, you have nothing to lose! Even if you don't get blooms you'll give them a chance to store up more energy. Sometimes I try to give late plants a boost with tons of watering and extra attention to fertilizing.

It took an average of 42 days to go from a newly planted tuber to being able to take the first decent cutting (e.g. the sprout had > 3 sets of leaves.) The minimum was 28 days, the longest was 87 days.

It took an average of 124 days to go from cutting to first bloom (flower actually open fully.) The minimum was 73 days, the longest was 181 days.

I didn't use any fertilizer, just water from the lake for watering (which is pretty high in nutrients.)

My suggestion, just based on what I've read, would be to disbranch and disbud liberally. This might put all of the plant's energies into fewer flowers, which might help it bloom sooner.

You might also want to consider planting them in containers you can bring in in the fall. If they haven't bloomed and frost is nearing, you could bring them inside and put them in front of those windows you use in the spring. It wouldn't surprise me if you could get them to bloom once inside.

Best of luck!

Cheers,
Russ