Can you plant lilies too deep?

[arylkin]

I planted a lot of lily bulbs in my front garden today, but this evening I realized I planted them too deep.  I planted some oriental lily bulbs and a bunch of LA hybrid lily bulbs.  I probably planted them 8" deep, or maybe even 9" for some.  I was doing it in a rush, and worrying about loosening up the ground.  It's probably ok for tthe oriental

Comments

[starswan]

I have grown lilies as well as tulips and daffodils and irises.

I don't think that they'd even have had time to really put down longer roots. I had to move some tulips once because gophers were eating them all. I took a bit of earth with them. But where I live they can't stay in the ground. I would refrigerate them, put them in the crisper until late Winter.

I read somewhere that lilies are good with 6" from the bottom of the bulb to the top of the soil.

[rhodielady_47]

BTW: Sprinkling ground red pepper on top of the soil where you've planted tulips will keep squirrels and chipmunks from digging and eating them.
:^}

[starswan]

I will keep that in mind though where I am is not the best climate for them really. I had gophers at this one garden plot and they tunnel and steal them from under you, sometimes while you are there. I lifted up a "loose" tulip and it came away with nothing but the stalk, the bloom, and a slimy mess at the bottom where the bulb had been minutes before. >.<;;
I also heard that some burrowing creatures do not like daffodils, that they're noxious to them.

[rhodielady_47]

Animals don't eat daffodils because they're poisonous. Nothing eats daffodils except for the Narcissus Bulb Fly whose larvae eat the bulbs. They've only recently invaded the US.

If you have problems with gophers burrowing and eating your tulip bulbs, one thing you can do is buy yourself a big bottle of hot sauce (the orangey-red stuff) and thinly coat the bulbs with it.
No member of the rodent family will go near them then!
(Just be sure you don't touch the skin of your face or around close to your eyes!)
Hope this information helps!

BTW: Do you mind telling me what area of the country you live in, your hardiness zone, and what sort of soil you have?
Maybe I can suggest some stuff that will thrive in your area. (I'm not asking for an address--we do have the occasional troll around here, so it pays to be careful.)
:^)

[rhodielady_47]

That is really way too deep for those bulbs--particularly if you have clay soil.
Lilies, like any other bulbs, will pull themselves down to a proper depth IF you've planted them too shallowly.
:^}

[arylkin]

I never did end up digging them up (laziness, etc.), though quite a few have come up now, so maybe they weren't as deep as I thought or else they were just very enthusiastic lol!

[rhodielady_47]

Healthy bulbs will find a way, that's one thing for sure.
BTW: Sprinkle ground red pepper or at least garlic powder around them to keep the rodent family members from digging them up and eating them.
I've had something digging around my daffodils but it keeps giving up once it realizes that daffodils are poisonous. It's a botheration to have to keep covering them back up though.
:^\