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Lily Of The Valley - Planting Advice Sought
Hi all,
I've come by two clumps of Lily Of The Valley "bulbs". Can anyone advise me as the best way and place to plant these. I'm short of space in the garden, so would pots be OK? Cheers in advance. Mike |
In article ,
Mike B wrote: I've come by two clumps of Lily Of The Valley "bulbs". Can anyone advise me as the best way and place to plant these. I'm short of space in the garden, so would pots be OK? Not really. If you have a damp place where you don't mind them running riot, that is ideal. They will quite happily coexist with shrubs, but are as invasive and hard to get rid of as ground elder. They don't need any direct sun - in fact, they prefer shade. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message ... In article , Mike B wrote: I've come by two clumps of Lily Of The Valley "bulbs". Can anyone advise me as the best way and place to plant these. I'm short of space in the garden, so would pots be OK? Not really. If you have a damp place where you don't mind them running riot, that is ideal. They will quite happily coexist with shrubs, but are as invasive and hard to get rid of as ground elder. They don't need any direct sun - in fact, they prefer shade. This makes me weep. I love lily of the valley and several times have planted bulbs in my damp corner. Nothing has ever grown. Seems I am the kiss of death to these plants. |
On 6/11/04 17:13, in article , "Mike B"
wrote: Hi all, I've come by two clumps of Lily Of The Valley "bulbs". Can anyone advise me as the best way and place to plant these. I'm short of space in the garden, so would pots be OK? Wherever you plant them they will either flourish or die or migrate to a place in which they are happy. The latter seems to be not full sun and gravel. I love them to bits and have never, ever managed to grow them. I've planted and struggled with the white and the pink ones and every single time they have died on me. But several friends of mine who have planted them tidily in flower beds have found that they have moved themselves in a very determined fashion to gravel paths and are just about swamping them! I don't agree with those who suggest damp areas for planting but that's just my personal experience of them. -- Sacha (remove the weeds for email) |
In article , Sacha
writes On 6/11/04 17:13, in article , "Mike B" wrote: Hi all, I've come by two clumps of Lily Of The Valley "bulbs". Can anyone advise me as the best way and place to plant these. I'm short of space in the garden, so would pots be OK? Wherever you plant them they will either flourish or die or migrate to a place in which they are happy. The latter seems to be not full sun and gravel. I love them to bits and have never, ever managed to grow them. I've planted and struggled with the white and the pink ones and every single time they have died on me. But several friends of mine who have planted them tidily in flower beds have found that they have moved themselves in a very determined fashion to gravel paths and are just about swamping them! I don't agree with those who suggest damp areas for planting but that's just my personal experience of them. They grow well around here in heavy clay. I have three patches, one which has always been there and is spreading slightly which is in semi shade, and two spreading patches, one under a whitebeam, and the other under a magnolia and a willow. They're all ignoring the nearby gravel paths. They seem to like bare soil, somewhere where they can be the only ground level plant. -- Kay "Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river" |
"Mike B" wrote in message ... Hi all, I've come by two clumps of Lily Of The Valley "bulbs". Can anyone advise me as the best way and place to plant these. I'm short of space in the garden, so would pots be OK? Possibly, but if you plant them in the ground you will find they will always try to travel north, so every now and again you will have to replant them towards the south. -- alan reply to alan(dot)holmes27(at)virgin(dot)net Cheers in advance. Mike |
Sacha wrote:
On 7/11/04 9:24, in article , "Kay" wrote: In article , Sacha writes snip But several friends of mine who have planted them tidily in flower beds have found that they have moved themselves in a very determined fashion to gravel paths and are just about swamping them! I don't agree with those who suggest damp areas for planting but that's just my personal experience of them. They grow well around here in heavy clay. I have three patches, one which has always been there and is spreading slightly which is in semi shade, and two spreading patches, one under a whitebeam, and the other under a magnolia and a willow. They're all ignoring the nearby gravel paths. Bizarre - definitely plants with a will of their own! They seem to like bare soil, somewhere where they can be the only ground level plant. Maybe that's the answer - a total lack of competition. |
Sacha wrote:
On 7/11/04 9:24, in article , "Kay" wrote: In article , Sacha writes snip But several friends of mine who have planted them tidily in flower beds have found that they have moved themselves in a very determined fashion to gravel paths and are just about swamping them! I don't agree with those who suggest damp areas for planting but that's just my personal experience of them. They grow well around here in heavy clay. I have three patches, one which has always been there and is spreading slightly which is in semi shade, and two spreading patches, one under a whitebeam, and the other under a magnolia and a willow. They're all ignoring the nearby gravel paths. Bizarre - definitely plants with a will of their own! They seem to like bare soil, somewhere where they can be the only ground level plant. Maybe that's the answer - a total lack of competition. That's been my experience, though I think it may be leaf competition they don't like rather than root competition. The only time they haven't had me tearing my hair out was when they were already established when I moved in -- under a greedy old privet hedge! Mike. |
In article ,
Sacha wrote: Wherever you plant them they will either flourish or die or migrate to a place in which they are happy. The latter seems to be not full sun and gravel. I love them to bits and have never, ever managed to grow them. I've planted and struggled with the white and the pink ones and every single time they have died on me. But several friends of mine who have planted them tidily in flower beds have found that they have moved themselves in a very determined fashion to gravel paths and are just about swamping them! I don't agree with those who suggest damp areas for planting but that's just my personal experience of them. Possibly. A damp area on 60% sand in Cambridge is probably equivalent to a dry area where you are :-) And the lack of leaf competition could be right, though mine invade some pretty dense plants. They have never invaded the lawn. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
On 7/11/04 11:58, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote: In article , Sacha wrote: Wherever you plant them they will either flourish or die or migrate to a place in which they are happy. The latter seems to be not full sun and gravel. I love them to bits and have never, ever managed to grow them. I've planted and struggled with the white and the pink ones and every single time they have died on me. But several friends of mine who have planted them tidily in flower beds have found that they have moved themselves in a very determined fashion to gravel paths and are just about swamping them! I don't agree with those who suggest damp areas for planting but that's just my personal experience of them. Possibly. A damp area on 60% sand in Cambridge is probably equivalent to a dry area where you are :-) Just about right! Talk about wilful.... And the lack of leaf competition could be right, though mine invade some pretty dense plants. They have never invaded the lawn. I've certainly never seen them growing into a lawn but as I say, I've seen them growing in gravel many times and also among trees roots in considerable shade. It's almost as if they want harsh conditions in terms of drainage but as has been said, no immediate competition of leaf cover. When you talk of dense plants, I imagine you mean before the leaves come out? I ask because my ex mil had a mass of the pink ones long before they were at all well known and they were under a tree and among azaleas, IIRC. When she gave me a few to try, not one of them even showed so much as a leaf! However, we're clearing a bed here which borders a gravel path and I'm determined to give them another go, even though they've let me down in other areas of this garden, too. -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon (remove the weeds to email me) |
In article , Sacha
writes On 7/11/04 9:24, in article , "Kay" wrote: They seem to like bare soil, somewhere where they can be the only ground level plant. Maybe that's the answer - a total lack of competition. That was what was puzzling me when I wrote it. AFAIK, they're one of the plants that like the cracks in a limestone pavement - ie shade, cool, and not much competition. But the bare soil under a magnolia isn't entirely free of competition - there's the magnolia roots. Maybe tree roots aren't in the top inch, and it's the top inch where lily of the valley do their spreading? But it does seem to be the bare soil which is the common factor in their preferred sites in my garden. -- Kay "Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river" |
On 7/11/04 14:21, in article , "Kay"
wrote: In article , Sacha writes On 7/11/04 9:24, in article , "Kay" wrote: They seem to like bare soil, somewhere where they can be the only ground level plant. Maybe that's the answer - a total lack of competition. That was what was puzzling me when I wrote it. AFAIK, they're one of the plants that like the cracks in a limestone pavement - ie shade, cool, and not much competition. But the bare soil under a magnolia isn't entirely free of competition - there's the magnolia roots. Maybe tree roots aren't in the top inch, and it's the top inch where lily of the valley do their spreading? But it does seem to be the bare soil which is the common factor in their preferred sites in my garden. So, shady and dry to the point of starvation, perhaps?! -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon (remove the weeds to email me) |
On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 22:48:57 GMT, "ex WGS Hamm"
wrote: "Nick Maclaren" wrote in message ... In article , Mike B wrote: I've come by two clumps of Lily Of The Valley "bulbs". Can anyone advise me as the best way and place to plant these. I'm short of space in the garden,so would pots be OK? Not really. If you have a damp place where you don't mind them running riot, that is ideal. They will quite happily coexist with shrubs, but are as invasive and hard to get rid of as ground elder. They don't need any direct sun - in fact, they prefer shade. This makes me weep. I love lily of the valley and several times have planted bulbs in my damp corner. Nothing has ever grown. Seems I am the kiss of death to these plants. I have LotV in a semi-shaded spot that goes very dry in the summer, and it does very well there. Perhaps the "damp spot" thing is a myth of sorts. However, it is my impression that LotV does need adequate moisture in the spring. Some of the other replies have homed in on the idea that it wants no leaf competition, and that describes mine to a T. Lots of roots in the soil from adjacent shrubs, trees, and hedges, but no other small fry to compete in its height class. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, BC, Canada to send email, change atlantic to pacific and invalid to net |
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