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Premature Bud Drop On Casa Blanca Lilies

Ask the Expert: Why aren’t my Casablanca lilies blooming?

I have Casablanca lilies in my garden, they are about four feet high and are staked
in full sunlight all day. Last year it seems that they were in bloom by now. About a month ago they did develop the buds and looked like they were going to start growing but they never got more than and inch or inch and a half big. Now they look like they are drooping. This is their second year. Any ideas??? Brenda

Comments

  1. Brenda,

    I have CasaBlanca lilies in my garden and they have yet to bloom this year. With mine there are a few factors that have caused this problem; cooler than usual spring that was wet and suddenly turned very hot and dry. I do have buds that should open in the next few weeks but I also have a few that have the same problem of bud drop along with yellow leaves at the base of the plant.

    When buds stop growing at 1″ to an 1 1/2″ a thing called Abscission is occurring. Abscission is the shedding of part of the plant, usually the immature fruit, in an effort to conserve the resources it needs to let one or more of the other “fruit” achieve maturity. Hormone levels in the plant will tell initiated the process which can be caused by overcrowding, high nitrogen levels, root rot and warm temperatures. If you live in an area like mine where the spring was unusually cold and wet root rot can occur. Then all of a sudden our climate went to extremely dry with unusually warm temperatures. So my bulbs were hit with two of the causes for abscission (bud drop). Unfortunately once this occurs their isn’t much that can be done. With tomatoes you can spray a hormone on them to keep this from happening. However, I don’t have any research that indicates this is a solution for lilies.

    Some times Lilies get a fungus called botrytis that will cause the lilies to wilt. You may have both abscission and botrytis. To eliminate the fungus you will need to spray your Casablanca lilies with a general purpose fungicide like daconil. Then you can address the abscission. Although there is not a cure there is a prevention. Keep your lilies moist but not soggy. If your bed is in a place that stays wet either in the summer of in the winter move them. When you fertilize choose a low nitrogen with high phosphorus. Then hope for the best.

    Just a side note the flower meaning for Casablanca Lily is celebrate. So the next time you want to celebrate with flowers and your garden isn’t cooperating contact your local florists and have them deliver some CasaBlanca lilies to your door.

    Attached Image: casablanca-lily.jpg

  2. Thank you. We must live in the same area because we did have a very wet spring and then all of a sudden bam!! Hot and humid weather!! I also just put in a drip system and maybe they are getting too much water. I’ve already sprayed them twice with daconil as a regular course of my maintenance, once at the beginning of the season and again just recently and they look nice and healthy other than the fact that they are drooping and not opening. Thanks very much for you input.