Fall would be your best option - in a sunny, well draining location 5-6" deep. September, say, will give them ample opportunity to settle in before winter hits.

Whereas if I plant them now, they might try to bloom and be prematurely killed when the frost comes?

It's quite unlikely a lily bulb just planted now would produce a blooming plant this season. Maybe even a miracle of sorts. And a summer blooming lily bulb held over and planted next spring probably wouldn't bloom for another season or so either. Conventional wisdom for your zone, and mine as well, is to plant in the fall. That way, you are most apt to get a lily that puts up a nice healthy stem and leaves and sets its blooms at the appropriate time.

Lilies are hardy, frost isn't a factor unless the bulbs (like any other plant), get heaved out of the ground in freeze and thaw cycles.

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they will not bloom now..

fall planting is done.. so the bulb can grow some roots ... then go cold dormant.. then sprout in cool soil ... etc ...

your timing is so off cycle as to soil temps... air temps.. etc ..... the odds of them defeating genetic predisposition is low to nil ...

that said.. anything can happen.. lol ..

what bothers me.. is they have been in the bargain bin since LAST FALL ... rather than this spring.. thats what i dont understand ... i hope you paid pennies for them ... why would they have been selling them in spring????

maybe those named are somehow special ... i dont know ...

have fun ...

ken

There is really no reason not to plant them now and since lily bulbs do not go dormant or store well, a very compelling reason to plant as soon as possible. You may indeed get some growth from the bulbs this season - most likely not - but no chance of them getting damaged from cold even they did produce. And no flowers. The longer you hold on to them without planting - don't forget all that time they spent at the retail outlet before you bought them - the less viable they become.

I agree with gardengal. Lilies should be planted as soon as possible for a better chance of survival. The longer they stay exposed the more they will dry up, the less viable they become. Make sure they are planted in well drained soil and do not over water them.

It does bother me, as ken said, that you just bought them in July. They must have been out of the ground or cold storage months ago. I wonder how they are. Are them firm to touch with no blemish?

And ken, lily bulbs are very commonly purchased and planted in spring, as with most other summer flowering bulbs, in far greater selection and quantity than in fall. They can also be available in fall, however there is usually insufficient time between growing and harvesting and then packaging for sale to allow a wide selection at that time. The only difference between lilies and most other spring-purchased, summer-flowering bulbs is that lilies tend to be much hardier than most.

One would be very hard pressed to find fresh lily bulbs in the spring here - 4 zones lower than yours. Yes, bargain bin leftovers occasionally. Garden center billboards all start noting "bulbs are here" starting, say, in September of each year.

But whatever...

I've done the fall planting with good success in the past, but now just tend to buy (particularly the Asiatics) already grown and close to setting flower buds.

Do not your garden centers sell other summer flowering bulbs in spring? Things like dahlias or glads or canna tubers, etc? That is by far the best selection time for lilies in my area (which also happens to be the location of several large wholesalers and mail order lily sources). Costco and Home Depot are full of bagged lily bulbs and the above vendors are present at local plant sales and garden shows. One only finds the usual spring flowering bulbs in fall........tulips and narcissus, hyacinths, crocus, etc. Very seldom lilies. Odd that it would be so different elsewhere.

Yes, there's hardly a place from Walmart to HD to Lowes, Sam's and on up and down the scale that doesn't have the spring offerings of glads, acidanthera, cannas, dahlia tubers, bare root peony stock etc. probably starting to become available in March while we generally still have a few feet of snow on the ground. I've started dahlias and peonies indoors with very good results.

Daffs, crocus, scilla, puschkinia, assorted minor bulbs, tulips, etc. would be available in the fall along with the true lily varieties.

Thanks! Yeah. The fall/spring thing confused me, too. I read a lot about lilies being best planted in the fall, but around here they're only available in the spring. These lilies are clearance from this spring. I know there's no (or very little) chance of bloom this year, but it sounds like if I get them in now, I may have some next summer! Thanks!