On Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:03:13 EDT, Jim wrote:

Jan, your thread on lilies tweaked a question in my mind that I
thought I would do as a new thread.

What is the trade off between dividing lilies and just letting them
grow their tubers?

We have not divided ours for years. We have a rope jungle in the tubs
and on the floor of the pond where they have grown out of the tubs.
The lilies seem to be doing fine and spreading. I will pull the
tubers on the floor when they have spread as far as I am willing to
permit. The tubs allow us to give each color its own location (deep
red, pink, yellow, white) The big-leafed whites from Tom LeBron are
doing most of the spreading on the floor.

I am interested in anyone's thoughts about dividing or not dividing.

My thoughts on dividing. When I don't do it every year it is a much bigger
job when I eventually do, do it. I'm also selling the babies to afford the
hobby. Thus I sort of have to get'er done.

I went to a meeting where I'm sure they hadn't divided their lilies, they
were bigger than mine and blooming like crazy. If they jumped the pot this
gives them the ability to keep on growing and blooming. The problem lies
when they can't jump the pot, and get stifled up against the side of it.
Stopping most growth and all blooming (so I've read).

Personally, if you don't have to divide and growing along the floor isn't a
big concern (isn't trapping debris to the point of being unhealthy for the
inhabitants) let them go.

I would think eventually you'd want to get rid of the dead tuber part(s)?
~ jan
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Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us