Who Wants Some Lily Bulbs?

Finally -- finally! -- I am getting some work done out in the garden. I injured my shoulder way, way back at the beginning of September and have been taking a long break from doing any real work out there. An extreme state of frustration over lack of progress and a huge pot ghetto looming on the patio every time I went outside, and a long list of undone chores and unfinished, half-started projects that went through my mind over and over every morning at 5 when I woke and couldn't get back to sleep, and the unwelcome sense of an onrushing winter heading toward me like a bull toward a red flag made me get outside yesterday and dig up some lily bulbs that I've wanted to transplant for a while now.

Lily 'Matrix' flowering its first year, in 2014

Although the colors of 'Matrix' suit my front bed, I've never been happy that the flower stalk itself is only about a foot to a foot and a half tall. All the other lilies in that front bed are 3 - 4 feet tall, in similar colors. For me, the shortness of 'Matrix' just doesn't fit. So I wanted to move it, into a bed in the back garden. I don't remember exactly how many bulbs I planted originally, it might have been 5, it might have been as few as 3. But yesterday I dug up and transplanted 25, and had some left over.

After reproducing, in 2017

'Matrix' is an Asiatic lily, which you can buy in the spring from Brent and Becky's. I think I might have originally bought mine from B&D Lilies at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, but it isn't in their current catalog. Lilies on B&D Lilies website range in price from about $5.00 to $13.00. I'll send you some for free!

There are 11 smaller bulbs ready to be planted

This gives you some idea of the size

There are also many, many, much smaller bulblets that in a few years will be flowering size

I'd really like to pass along the extra bulbs and bulblets to a gardener (or more than one) who can use them. Please take my extra lily bulbs! They probably should get back into the ground as soon as possible. Leave a comment with a way to get in touch, and I'll contact you to get a mailing address. I don't mind paying for postage. If I get a lot of interest I'll divide them up as reasonably as I can.

Basically I am just incapable of simply throwing away any plant matter that can become a viable plant, whether it's a seedling, an offset, or a division. Are you familiar with the musical number "Every Sperm Is Sacred" from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life? As Michael Palin sings and dances along with hundreds of children, I know how he feels. That's me and my plants.

Every Sperm Is Sacred