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lucklein

Stunted Lilies

lucklein
10 years ago

Any one else notice their lilies are stunted this year? All of mine are only about half (or less) as tall as they normally are. Front yard has buds, back yard has no buds. Just wondering if it is going on elsewhere or if I have some kind of other problem going on. (Manitoba)

Comments (16)

  • User
    10 years ago

    I have had my daylilies for about 5-6 years now and only ever had one flower. The leaves are beautiful so last year I lifted them on the advice of GW so we will see. So far the leaves look great.

  • SouthCountryGuy Zone 4b-5 SE BC
    10 years ago

    Weird, mine are way bigger than last year. Then again I didn't have any last year. Hehe. Joking aside mine have buds all over them but are only about 3/4 the hieght the package says. I also agree the foliage is almost pretty enough as it is.

    SCG

  • northspruce
    10 years ago

    Daylilies have nothing to do with lilies whatsoever...

    I am also in Manitoba and my asiatic lilies didn't enjoy the cold winter. Sometimes my asiatic lilies die off for reasons unknown to me, but small bulbs or bulb scales grow from the edges and take a few years to reach blooming size. I have seen this with several varieties. Asiatics are just not as enthusiastic and trouble free as they're supposed to be for me. Even some of the Orientals and Trumpets and "difficult" crosses are often more reliable in my yard.

  • SouthCountryGuy Zone 4b-5 SE BC
    10 years ago

    Thanks north. Although I am happy with anything right now it will be nice when they "grow up".

  • justjoey57
    10 years ago

    My lilies are stunted this year as well.

  • User
    10 years ago

    the OP did not specify what kind of lilies.

  • northspruce
    10 years ago

    True, I was assuming also. Sorry CL, that was rude of me. :(

  • User
    10 years ago

    No problem :D .........................still wondering about a bot though there has been a lot lately on the cooking forum. And original poster just started the account today. I hope I am wrong. If I am I hope there is nothing too wrong with the lilies whatever kind they are.

  • marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
    10 years ago

    Several years ago, we had a big thing on this forum about using Latin names and we were all learning them. It was fun! Daylilies are "hemerocallis", so that helped clear up the confusion when talking about lilies. :)

    And some of mine do look short this year, and 'Giraffe' is really skinny. Maybe just the neck is growing this year! :>

    Slightly off-post, but my siberian irises are doing absolutely nothing this year - very few leaves and no blooms yet. Wonder why that could be. I can see one or two, but all three clumps are like that. :(

  • north53 Z2b MB
    10 years ago

    Everything here is lush and huge, but that could be because we seem to be living in a rain forest these days. We've had 5 inches of rain in the last week alone. As soon as the sun comes out, I'm expected an explosion of other problems to emerge.

  • marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
    10 years ago

    At least my daylilies look really good so far this year. Last year, they didn't like the heat and humidity one bit.

  • weeper_11
    10 years ago

    I've had some lilies be stunted some years. I never did find out why they did so poorly, but they did bounce back..

    Marcia, I have definitely had trouble with my siberian irises before. sometimes the leaves stay really short and they don't bloom at all; in fact I had a post on here about that awhile back. The consensus was maybe lack of water, because they are essentially the same conditions as my bearded - which grow far better.

    I have one siberian flowering decently this year anyway!

  • marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
    10 years ago

    The tried-and-true purple siberian is blooming this year, but not overly profusely. I did take it apart last fall, so that may have something to do with it. I can't see it being lack of water for the other sibs - it has been fairly wet this year. Maybe the cold, miserable spring.

  • lucklein
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Hi Everyone,
    Sorry for the confusion, but they are Asiatic lilies. They are about 4 years old. Usually they grow to about 3 feet high and bloom. This year they are only about a foot or so. Some are north exposure with morning and evening sun, some are south exposure with much more sun, so it seems weird that both patches are stunted. Just thought it must be the weather and wondered if others are having the same thing. The north exposure plants do have flower buds, others do not. Don't have the tags, so can't name the exact variety, but they are not all the same.
    Thanks for all your replies, and again, sorry if I wasn't specific enough in the original post.

  • User
    10 years ago

    no problem at all it gave us a chance to talk about all lilies glad to see you are not a bot :D and posting again Welcome to Far North Gardening.

  • Pudge 2b
    10 years ago

    Mine are also short this year.

    Last year some of mine had some of that blight that caused the stems to die back almost immediately after flowering. Since the stems need to feed the bulb for the next year, I suspected those lilies would be less vigourous this year. But I have a lot of lilies, and they're all shorter than normal.