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Expert: Long Island Gardener - 7/21/2008


Question
i bought a potted stargazer this spring, and its doing wonderful. i want to plant it in the ground but i am not sure how to care for it over the winter. i found some information which is helpful, but the one question i really need to know i could not find an aswer for. i live in BC canada, and our winters here get to be in the -30 C range. will this extreme cold kill the bulbs? and do i have to cut the stem or just leave the stems like they are over the winter?

thank you
jodie

Answer
You're in luck.  Oriental Lilies are widely held to be hardy down to USDA Zone 3 -- 30 to 40 degrees F.  Even in Canada.

Don't believe me?  See the map for yourself:

www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hrdzon4.html#3

Japanese Bayberry, Russian Olive, Common Juniper, Lonicera tatarica  ('Tatarian Honeysuckle'), Siberian Crabapple and American Arborvitae are also expected to laugh at your chilly clime.

Oh, wait... that was THIRTY DEGREES CENTIGRADE you asked about.

No problem.  30 below Zero Centigrade is a balmy 22 below Zero in Fahrenheit degrees.  Get out the suntan lotion for these bulbs.  Just make sure you plant them deep and pay serious attention to drainage, which will set up a Bulb rot epidemic faster than you can say Global Warming.

Thanks for writing.

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER  

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Long Island Gardener

Expertise

Growing Tulips? Dahlias? Daffodils? Gladiolus? It doesn't get easier than bulbs and tubers. Once in a while, something goes wrong: The dreaded Narcissus Bulb Fly, which resembles a honeybee. Mosaic virus, which can ignite a field of tulips in a single season. Nematodes, lurking underground. Here on the North Shore of Long Island, the garden is full of surprises. If you live in the Northeast/Atlantic Coast, I can help you pick the right bulb for every season, indoors and out, and help you fertilize, bloom and harvest for home or work. How: I have degrees in related fields, but my best understanding is all learned from trial and error. For most of my 53 years I have been gardening somewhere. No matter what the problem, I've learned the best answers are always Organic -- Earth friendly, less expensive, healthier for people and pets, easier and cleaner than toxic liquids and powders that big chemical companies sell so smoothly.

Experience

Besides degrees in related fields, and a few favorite horticultural societies, I work as a docent at our local botanical gardens -- but it's the years of work in the garden that's the real test.

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