"Go Fig" wrote in message
...
In article , ~ Windsong ~
wrote:
"Go Fig" wrote in message
...
In article , ~ Windsong ~
wrote:
"Go Fig" wrote in message
...
When I buy a citrus tree, I shop for the exact species, the same
for
gardenias, azaleas and the same goes for lilies for me.
$4.50 is real cheap, but if you get 8 flowers all season, thats a
high
cost per flower.
$$ If I got only 8 flowers per season I would blame myself - not
the
lily.
They bloom like crazy if they're in the sun and fertilized
regularly.
Which lily ?
## What do you mean which lily? They all bloom all summer, as long as
they're in a very sunny place.
The species ?
$$ What species? All the box gives is the name of water lily. Why would
anyone care about species unless they were going to start hybridizing or
breeding them.
$$ Your climate may be too HOT for hardy lilies. Some people,
including
myself, have no interest in tropicals that need constant
replacement.
Why would Tropicals need to be replaced constantly ?
## Because in zone 6 they DIE! Not everyone lives in a tropical or
semi-tropical area.
I know people that keep them in their basement in NH.
$$ I'm sure the lily loved the cold dark basement. :-) I leave my
hardies right were they are year round. I don't have a basement. I have a
crawl space under my house. Many houses don't even have that. They're on
slabs.
I can grow hardy lilies with no problem.
## But you claim they don't bloom for you.
No I didn't!! I said they don't compare to tropicals. I have shown
pictures to the group of Hardy lilies... with the exact name too. I
further have suggested specific species of hardy lilies to grow to the
group.
$$ Then what are you trying to say? If you're just pushing tropicals ok, if
not, then what?
Setting aside the mottled leaf that tropicals can have, the ease of
care and often viviparous reproduction... you get many more flowers
from tropicals and at the end of the season.
$$ And then what? You have to have a heated, well lit basement full of tubs
or tanks to winter them over.....
My
hardies last for years if divided every year.
And if you don't spend this time, you will get little to no flowers.
## That depends on the lily. Some need repotting every 2 years.
I guess a hardy could be repotted every two years... if you plant it
originally in a foot locker.
$$ Or use roomy pots to start with. Sure seems like less work then going
the "basement" routine with tropicals. And not everyone has a basement.
Many even grow out of their pots during the growing season, and once
that happens... bloom production falls off fast.
## I only had this happen with the large yellow lilies. Most need
repotting once a year - in spring.
But it happens a lot for the average ponder.
$$ So? Is it any more work repotting a hardy every spring then going the
"basement" routine with tropicals? Even if I had a basement I can't imagine
it full of water tanks and full spectrum lights. Seems like a lot more work
and expense than repotting the hardies once a year. I'm sure the tropicals
like a yearly repotting and some fertilizer Tabs as well.
I still have the original
yellows (they all had names which I have long since forgotten) which
blooms
from mid spring to frost. :-)
Could be Joey Tomocik
$$ No, that's not the name.
I doubt there is a profession reference that would conclude hardy
lilies are better bloomers than tropicals, in fact, they all say just
the opposite.
## I didn't say hardies are BETTER bloomers than tropical. I said many
people don't want the expense of replacing tropicals every spring. I
know I
don't, and they don't survive here in TN over the winter.
That works for you, but not for all. I buy from a HUGE Aquatic
Nursery... it is just as easy and even cheaper for me to pick up a
Hardy vs. a Tropical... but that would not generally be good financial
reasoning.
$$ If they live over for you then they're worth buying once.
In April I bought 4 of Carla's Sunshine and Innocence, the most
expensive lilies on the market. They are viviparous, I have more than
20 plants now flowering profusely... not a bad return on investment...
impossible with a hardy, I doubt I will ever but these again.
$$ As I said, if they live over for you, then they're worth the investment.
They don't live over in the northern part of the country and so aren't a
good investment for us in the lower zones.
I'll post a pic of what I mean later.
--
Carol....
"Two can live as cheaply as one, for half as long."
~~~~~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
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