Can I leave lilies and other summer bulbs in the ground through winter?

Submitted by MaxlifeChina t3_y2mk5t in vermont

Hi, I wasn't sure about this, as I was planning my garden for next year, but getting mixed results from Google. Some sources said that leaving summer bulbs (not hardy spring bulbs like tulips, crocus and daffodils), such as lilies, gladiolas and iris' through VT winters was fine, while others said this would kill them. To keep them alive, you had to dig them up in the fall, and replant in the spring.

Does anyone have any Vermont-specific perspective on this? I don't want to do a lot of extra work if not necessary, but also don't want to buy a lot of bulbs only to have them die.

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Unique-Public-8594 t1_is3uu8n wrote

I’m not an expert gardener, just a hobby.

I’m in VT garden zone 4 and leave my day lilies, tiger lilies, and irises in the ground through the winter and they come back, bloom, and spread. I don’t have glads.

Hope it works for you too.

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Ausmith1 t1_is40lj2 wrote

Just as another commenter mentioned, I have left lilies and irises in the ground with no ill effects. Just cover the ground over them with some bark mulch or the likes to help insulate them. These are generally planted 8 or 9 inches deep and unless we get a really brutal winter they should be fine.

Last year was the first year I planted gladiolus and I followed the instructions and dug them up in October. The corms really grew a lot!

Anyhow I obviously missed a bunch of the new baby corms because a bunch of new gladiolus stems came up this spring before I planted last years corms. None of them flowered but they grew well. So I'm just going to leave them in the soil this winter and cover them up well with bark mulch and maybe some plastic film to help keep the salt off.

One thing that did not survive was Cannas, the first frost killed them and rotted the roots.

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texmarie t1_is4zqnj wrote

I leave mine in the ground. Mostly because I bought my house in winter so didn’t know they were there. I never actually looked it up subsequently because I figured it was fine since they’d already survived.

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cat-at t1_is55q8y wrote

It depends on the plant. Most tulips and lilies should be okay unless you get some kind of tropical variety. Dahlias have to be dug up. Make sure the plant you get is okay in zone 4, then you’ll have no need to dig.

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Sdwingnut t1_is5umsb wrote

Our tiger lillies have been perennials for 10+ consecutive years now with no special over winter care.

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MaxlifeChina OP t1_is8hm31 wrote

Thank you all, this is great advice! Not to get ahead of myself, but looking forward to warmer days next year!

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MaxlifeChina OP t1_is8l0rg wrote

Replying to Sdwingnut (#94,100)

I figured those would be capable of surviving the winter, just from seeing all the tiger lilies growing wild along the road in summer. I wasn't sure if they were hardier than other lilies, or they're all tough like that.

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