I just received a bunch of of Asian daylily bulbs that I orded online. When I opened the packages, I found that a number of them have already started sprouting. Is it OK to go ahead and plant them with the sprouts sticking up out of the ground, or should I cut off the vegetation and plant the bulbs bare?
Rhonda Richmond, VA Zone 7
===================== Each of us, a cell of awareness imperfect and incomplete Genetic blends with uncertain ends on a fortune-hunt that's far too fleet
Plant them at the correct depth but do not cut off the sprout. The sprout may or may not stick out of the ground.
If they are bulbs, then they must be Asiatic lilies and not daylilies (hemerocallis). If they are daylilies, then they would have a root system and you would plant the crown about an inch below the surface.
Bobby Baxter Happy Moose Gardens
The Asiatic Lily Beetle (little, red, rectangular) will be an enormous problem. A local gardening expert recommends Bayer Tree and Shrub (insect control?) because it has a higher percentage of the active ingredient. All other controls such as Neem oil are known to be ineffective, in spite of what the popular press says.
Bobby,
You DO get around, don't you! And so glad someone corrected the terminology on the "Asian Daylily"! I was going to, but you beat me to it!
Rhonda,
I've got a bad habit of buying bagged lily (Lilium) bulbs that have been marked down. All to often these are already in growth, but as long as the bulb is firm they usually do okay. They may not grow right or bloom right this year, but they will be fine. I have some that were potted as opposed to planted in the ground, that are just now poking through the soil and one is already showing buds. I will have to keep an eye on it and not keep the potting mix too wet. It may abort the buds, die back and rest while it continues to develop a root system and then put out new growth in mid summer. The bulb may even divide and send up several new stems. Next year it may or may not bloom depending on how much it is able to grow and store energy this summer.
Asiatic Lilies are a pretty hardy group so your bulbs should be fine.
Hemma
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