In the Fall of 2004 I was horrified to learn that someone
was selling bareroot lily bulbs at a price of 10 for
$3.00 or $4.00 at the Red Deer Farmer's Market. A bargain
too good to pass up for the average gardener I'm sure
- but consider this: My first question - are these from
a cut flower grower? (I am aware there are a number
of cut flower growers in central Alberta) I was immediately
informed that this was indeed the case, a cut flower
grower was selling their used bulbs to gardeners for
replanting.
Some of you might be wondering why I was so horrified,
but experienced lily growers know that cut flower
bulbs do not make for good garden lilies! Bulbs
collect their energy for the next years blooming through
the leaves and stem of this years growth. In effect,
if you cut a stem down too much, then there is no viable
method for the bulb to replenish its energy for the
following year. It is recommended that stems of garden
lilies NEVER be cut down more than one third from the
top, so that next years growth is not compromised. Cut
flower growers need to cut more than one third
of a stem to please their customers, who consist mainly
of flower shops, who insist on long stems for all cut
flowers.
Think about it for a minute, why would a cut flower
grower get rid of healthy lily bulbs, especially at
what appears to be a bargain price? You would think
they would keep them and just cut down stems again the
following season, saving themselves the cost of buying
new bulbs. The reason is because they are fully aware
that the bulbs are now considered inferior after one
season's cutting, and are not going to produce the same
lovely, large blooms produced initially! Also, they
are actually recovering the cost of the bulbs completely
as they buy in huge quantities, usually directly from
Holland, and they are paying the same thing they are
charging you for the bulbs now, and they've already
made a tidy profit from the cutting of stems too.
My horror at hearing about this comes from the fact
that there are sure to be disappointed gardeners who
purchased such bulbs, and they may forever be turned
off of lilies because of the inferior quality of the
plant when it grows in their garden, if it grows at
all. This will certainly be the case if the person has
never ever grown a lily before, and that I find very
sad. The age-old motto "If something sounds too
good to be true, it probably is" applies very readily
to this situation in my opinion!
