...of shoes, and ships, and sailing wax (many things, in other words)

[badgerpup]

Hi :hi:
New to this group...wish I'd seen it before!

I plant a lot of alliums- a. flautense, a. nigrum, and one that was just designated as 'decorative allium' when I bought it at Costco in their Practical Gardener series. That one is a spherical white many-floreted head on a very short stem- about 8".

All these bloomed beautifully and then went to seed, and I should clean out the yard...BUT: are the seeds worth saving?
Would they eventually turn into more plants if I planted them? It's not like I'm in a major hurry; if it takes a couple years that's alright with me.

Also...I planted a bunch of Oriental lilies that were supposedly Muscadet...
but instead of pink freckling many of them had yellow stripes.
They came from different sources, so is it something in the soil?

Plus could I get some advice on the best time to transplant peonies?
Have some lovely oriental ones that I haven't been able to find anywhere else since Costco only carried them one spring, Sword Dance

and Moon of Nippon
I know peonies get huffy about being transplanted, but I'd rather have them huffy for a year or two than destroyed utterly.

Pre-view is indeed my friend...these pics are NOT from my garden...though I wish they were!
They're from The Google. I was looking for pics so's you'd know what I was on about and the pics instead of the links showed up.

Thanks...

[Blue Gardener]

1. Welcome to the Gardening Group!

I don't know much about Alliums. You can always try saving the seed. My philosophy is if they grow, that's great, if they don't, I'll just plant something else!

The oriental lily bulbs could have been mislabeled. I don't think it's all that uncommon.

Check the other post about transplanting peonies. Also, your extension service website should have a lot of information about gardening in your area. It's a great resource.

[flying_wahini]

2. what zone are you in?

I may have some seeds to trade, if you are interested...

[TygrBright]

3. It will take you a LONG time to get alliums from seed...

...as they grow from bulbs. You might be better off letting them go to seed where they are and seeing if you get seedlings in the next couple of years. If you do, leave them alone for a year or two, then dig them out when the foliage goes down (MARK THEM! In case the foliage disappears overnight, as it sometimes does when they're very young) and re-plant them where they'll get a little room to grow. Different varieties take different times to get to flowering size but I wouldn't expect flowers from seed for at least 3-4 years.

If they are a variety that casts baby bulblets from the bulb, you'll get faster results digging them up and peeling off the largest of the baby bulblets and replanting those.

Don't know about the lilies but they are often mislabeled. "Muscadet" can vary a bit from grower to grower, as well-- not as consistent as (for example) "Casablanca" or "Stargazer." You'll get yellow streaking by the base of the throat from some lines.

Peonies should be transplanted in fall after they go dormant but before the ground freezes hard. They will sulk a bit the next year. If they like where you've put them they'll regain ground in subsequent years.

helpfully,
Bright