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Should I replace these?
Two years ago, I did a lot of planting. I think it was fall 2009.
The lillies I planted came up in January 2010. We had a couple days of unusually warm weather (60s) and they came up. Then, the normal frosty snow came and the foliage was gone. They did not come back in the spring. Do you think I should see if they will come up this spring, or should I just order more bulbs?
Also, I had a couple of lilac bushes. They were only a couple of twigs, and they were only a few years old. They didn't bloom yet, and they weren't very big. DH buried both of them in piles of snow, and snapped one of them with the ladder. The one he snapped was only snapped in one place, and it had another twig like branch on it. I don't know if it's alive or not, because it's currently under a giant pile of snow.
Do you think I should order more of these plants in case they don't make it, or wait and see what happens when everything thaws?
Re: Should I replace these?
The lillies should come up again this year. I had the same thing happen to my daffodils, but they always come back the next year with pretty blooms. As for your lilac bushes, I don't know what to recommend...might not hurt to buy more if they aren't expensive.
I would wait on the lilac. You just never know.
no clue on the lilies.
Wait on both! The lilies should be back this year. If not replace them next year.
Lilac bushes can take years to flower but when they do they are very pretty and have a great smell. My mom's took 2-3 years before they had any flowers and even then they were very small. That is why we went out of our way to save our old lilac instead of just planting a new one. It was 35 years old but starving for light since the pines next to it grew much faster. After the move ours did manage to flower but they were very small. The blooms should get bigger each year if bush isn't stressed anymore. The snow won't hurt them at all. The one your husband snapped may take even longer to bloom though. If lilacs need to be pruned you should do it right after they are done blooming since they take a full year of absorbing sunlight to develop (pruning before they bloom would mean you won't have any blooms that year). So I'm guessing the lilac will respond to the broken area similarly to being pruned.
HTH!
Both should be fine if the bulbs/roots are below the frost line.
For lilacs, feed them copper powder. This nutritive can be purchased at a landscaping center. They thrive on this mineral and will grow bigger and more lush. They will also have more buds and more flowers. Ours did not flower until we sprinkled this powder on them. We just followed the directions on the bottle.
The lilies will definitely be back. And they will spread. Like weeds. Lilies are generally pretty invasive characters and you have to watch them from year to year, or they'll start taking over all of the space around them, whether you want them to or not.
Our lilacs weren't looking so hot at the end of last season, so I'm not much help there, and I have some research of my own to do as well. The snow and ice shouldn't bother them, though - I'm in New England, and we have some amazing lilac bushes in my neighborhood that get dumped on all winter every year too. Judging by the bushes that my parents had when I was a kid, and all of the wild ones that I've seen, I always thought they were pretty hardy, and didn't need much attention, but judging by the two in my yard last summer, I thought wrong. I'm definitely going to look into the copper powder that Magdala recommended, though. I love my lilacs, and I want them to be full and lush they way they were the year we bought our house.
Sugar & Spice