Hi MonaRae -

Lily bulbs never really go dormant, and do best when out of the ground for as short a time as possible. If you've got the space, I would recommend potting the bulbs up right away. You can cram them in, bulb to bulb, you're just trying to keep the root system fresh and growing. You can store the pots in an unheated garage or cool basement until spring, then tease the roots apart and plant again.

If you can't pot them up right away, get some peat moss, wet it and squeeze out as much of the water as you can. Dust the bulbs with a fungicide, then store the bulbs in the barely moist moss in an open container (which you will need to mist periodically to keep it barely moist) and store in the basement or garage until you can plant in the spring.

- Steve

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I appreciate that. I will get the peat moss out and get a bed made for them asap. I just got done digging up more plants for friends. Dang mosquitos!!! I am not ready to plant them into thier forever home yet. Should be by the end of fall.

MonaRae

I would not suggest storing in an unheated garage over winter in zone 4. If you must store them in the basement for a week while readying the new bed, ok.

I store lilies in dry peat moss/vermiculite whatever I have, in ziplock baggies in the fridge. Works well for me.

Ginny

Hey on this answer I have to move maybe real soon and was going too dig up my asiatic Lilly's because I want to take them with me. Is the best way ( to cram them all into pots of dirt till the spring?)

Potting them up (not "cramming" - LOL!) in a container is really one of the best methods of holding lily bulbs until they can be planted in the ground. You can either sink the pots into the ground after the move or store them somewhere cold but where the pots won't freeze solid and then plant in spring.

We are building, but our house won't be ready until late December. If I dig up the bulbs I want to take with us to the new house now and put them in a pot to store in the garage until Spring, how often (if at all) do I water the pot?

I live in southern California and volunteer at our church , taking care of plants . Every year we buy about 40 pots of white lilies for Easter . They stay alive for a few weeks and then we dump them in the garbage . This year I decided to save the bulbs and have them bloom again for next Easter. How do I store them ? Do I keep them in the pots and just water them ? Shuld they be placed in a shady part of the garden or inside ? Anything else I need to know about recycling the bulbs?

Thank you for all your tips. Joanna

Joanna, unless you allowed the foliage to ripen and age naturally and then die off completely before you salvaged the bulbs, then they are pretty much worthless for next season. They need all that foliage to re-energize the bulbs for next year's flowers. And if you read any of the previous thread, storing them is not really a great option - they "store" best when planted :-)

If you have already removed the foliage, then just plant the bulbs in an area of the garden that receives decent sun and has well drained soil. They are unlikely to bloom next year but allow any foliage to grow and remain in place intact until it dies off naturally in fall and they should flower the second season.

If the foliage is still in place, then plant the bulbs - foliage and all - in the same sort of location described above. Chances are good they will bloom next year. But not at Easter!! They are forced into bloom at that time of year in greenhouses.......in the garden, Easter lilies, Lilium longiflorum, bloom in late June or July.