How to Propagate an Oriental Orange Tiger Lily

Deer usually leave tiger lilies alone.

Both Asiatic and oriental lilies come from Asia and might give the impression the two different designations refer to the same flower. But the oriental species, which includes the orange tiger lily (Lilium tigrinum), blooms later than the Asiatic. Tiger lily flowers appear from July to August on stalks about 3 feet tall. The orange petals are freckled on the inside with pointy edges that curl downward. Tiger lilies propagate from seeds and bulb division.

Things You'll Need

• Pot with drainage holes
• Seed-starter mix
• Tiger lily seed
• Cold frame or plastic film
• Shovel

Instructions

Seed Propagation

1. Fill a pot with seed-starter mix late winter to early spring. Irrigate it until water flows from the planter's drainage holes.

2. Push the tiger lily seed into the soil to a depth four times its width. Cover the hole with seed-starter mix. Irrigate the surface to moisten the seed.

3. Place the pot in a cold frame if you have one. A cold frame is like a mini-greenhouse, a box with a clear cover to allow the sun in. Alternatively, cover the planter with clear plastic film and set it in a sunny location.

4. Check the soil moisture daily. Irrigate it whenever the surface begins to dry. Germination occurs within two to four weeks.

Bulb Division

1. Loosen the soil around a tiger lily plant in the fall before the ground freezes. Push the blade deeper each time you work the shovel around the plant.

2. Dig the bulb cluster out of the ground once you reach under the plant's root system. After you plant a tiger lily bulb, it reproduces underground, forming new bulbs attached to the oldest one.

3. Pull the young bulbs off the original one to pry them apart.

4. Loosen the soil in a well-drained spot that offers partial shade. Dig holes with a depth twice the height of the new bulbs and replant them. Water them once at planting. Begin to give the plants 1 inch water weekly when stalks bearing flower buds sprout in spring.

References

• Colorado State University; Lilies Add an Exotic Look to the Garden; Judy Feather; January 2010
• North Dakota State University; Methods of Lily Propagation; Melody Webster
• University of Minnesota Extension; Starting Seeds Indoors; V. Fritz et al.; February 2009
• University of Illinois Extension; Bulbs & More--Planting & Care; Ron Cornwell; 2011