Expert: Long Island Gardener - 8/11/2007

Question
QUESTION: I am replanting the berms in my backyard.  I would like to put some stargazer's in the middle berm above the pool fountain.  The soil there is great for drainage, does not get excess water and is in full sun.  I am is south Florida and need to know if this is a good area for them all year long.  Is this a bad time to plant them?  Should I choose something else? Any help or suggestions you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

ANSWER: What makes this such a great country is that NO American EVER understands the words 'it can't be done.'

Let us begin.

Oriental Lilies like the ever-popular ultra-fragrant Stargazer must go dormant to regenerate for the another growing season.  For that, they need COLD weather.  The thermomenter MUST sit in the 40s for weeks for an effective dormant period.

If you don't have that outside where your Stargazers are growing, Marlyn, you must find it in your house.

That said, MANY Florida Lily Lovers dig their Oriental Lilies up and store them for several weeks in their kitchen refrigerator.  It's the only way do this.  But they love those Lilies so much they don't even think about it.

So yes, you can grow them in your Garden, and your site sounds splendid.  It's just missing the Cold Air factor.  You just have to plan on un-planting them around October 1 and moving them indoors to your fridge.

When you replant, which should be very easy since your ground won't freeze, check to make sure you have added plenty of organic matter and that you do indeed have EXCELLENT drainage.

Peatmoss is a good amendment because it tips the pH down, something all Lilies appreciate.

Most so-called 'tropical' Lilies still need a cold season to survive your balmy, beautiful Florida weather -- Lilium formosanum (see the photo on the Floridata website http://www.floridata.com/ref/l/lili_for.cfm) and Lilium phillipense are perfect examples.  Lilium longiflorum, the very popular Easter Lily, is also one of the most tender Lilies, but it still depends on a cold spell to flower.

Brookings-Harbor, Oregon, is famous for supporting 90 percent of the nation's Easter Lily business.  The average minimum temp there in its coldest month, January, is a brisk 41 degrees F, average high is 54 degrees F; it rarely snows, and that never accumulates.  That weather also grows some very happy Azaleas, as well; the village holds an Azalea Festival every Spring.  The forgiving climate has earned them the nicknames 'Banana Belt' and 'Home of Winter Flowers'.

But compare those thermometer readings to the weather for, say, Orlando.  The coldest month, January, gets down to an average 50 degrees F; average high is around 71 degrees F.  That's a LOT warmer than Oregon, even though technically they are fall in the same USDA Zones.  Still, to confuse the matter, there are people who claim -- I do not know these people personally and it is a free country, you can say anything you want in the USA, but they may be telling the truth here -- they CLAIM they grow Easter Lilies (L. longiflorum) in SOUTH Florida.  Which may be South of where you want to plant your Stargazers.

MAYBE you can do this with 'Stargazer'.  What do you have to lose?

Bottom line:  Your incredibly popular Stargazers (the most popular Oriental Lily grown, by the way, so you are in good company) will need special treatment from you to grow with Orange Trees and Caladiums.

But Marlyn....

There are SO MANY EXQUISITELY FRAGRANT FLOWERS you can grow without half the work of your Stargazers.  Plants we CANNOT grow in the North because it's TOO cold.

Smelled a Plumeria lately?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Yeah, I love Plumeria too but it gets too tall.  I do have Frangipani (sp) and they are great for fragrance too when they bloom and of course, gardenias ... all year long.  So I have two refridgerators and I can spare a drawer from October to March....Is that enough.? and can I plant some now to bloom thru October?  It is a favorite flower of mine and will be just tall enough for me to see over them and view my taller shrubs and flowers on the other berms.

I am so encouraged by your words....... I can get there!! I love Stargazers best....not at all into the Easter Lily, bad memories, and the orange day lilies are pretty too but not what I want.  I need my pinks and reds to go with my whites.

I also put annual pots surrounding the pool area but do not put them on the berms, red and white, all the time.  Impatiens in the fall/winter and Periwinkle in the summer.  It is enough in pots around the pool.  I put Gardenias and red pentas as well as palms and Lantana on the big berms.....but the hump berm over the fountain I want for low growing flowering foliage and wanted to put my stargazers there.  I can replace them from Oct to March with Inpatients as well.

You are so wonderful to answer my questions.  But again, can I plant some now?

Thinking fragrantly of you!

Answer
Thank you for your quick and pleasant clarification.  I would be concerned mainly about the quality of a Lily bulb that has spent its Summer out of the soil.  In the North it would be too late -- but South of the Mason Dixon line, you might try them.  Just make sure you got a guarantee with the Bulbs so that if they are too old and do not grow, you will get a refund or a fresh new crop in the Fall.

Give them some time after flowering to prepare for next year, then let them fade and hold off watering as they go dormant.  Chill (NO plastic bags -- they need air).  Remember they are not completely dormant like, say, a deciduous shrub.

This is tricky.  They need slight moisture but they need air circulation.  Refrigerators are notorious for rotting bulbs due to standing anaerobic moisture.  Turn them and air them out often, but do not let them warm up.

You have to REALLY love these Lilies to go to all this trouble.

But then, I have Orange Trees in my den that require biannual hauling by 3 large men to be transported late each Fall indoors and again back outside in the Spring.  Just so I can have the flowers in January and the fruit in May and June.  All real Gardeners are crazy.

Good luck.  Keep me posted.

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One more detail I would like to add that I came across after posting my answer: A link (reserved mainly for growers who need to force these plants en masse for fun and profit) here:

http://www.pathfastpublishing.com/qr27/qr27LILIUM.htm

There is some technical information that you will certainly find useful for this perennial project you are planning.  Thank you for your lovely review of my answer.