I placed them in the refrigerator, as instructed, but then plum forgot about them! In mid-summer, 2 years ago, I suddenly remembered and it was conveyed to me that since they'd be sprouting late, they may not make it through the winter. Bummer. But I tried, and lo-and-behold, they survived. Last year they grew into quite nice plants over a foot high but too young to produce blossoms--if indeed they were going to produce blossoms. It was still anyone's guess.
This is their 3rd year in the ground and they came up well. I was going outside every day towards the end of June to see if they'd put out any scapes (stems on which blossoms are formed). Suspense and more suspense as the days went on. I reassured myself by taking a look at some other, established lilies in the garden and noticing that they hadn't yet put out scapes. So all remained hopeful. One morning I went out to check ... "Y-E-S! S-C-A-P-E-S!" I exclaimed before quickly glancing up to see if my neighbors were home. No. Good, I can still pretend not to be crazy. :) I had SCAPES!! Oh, I was so thrilled. Scapes on plants that I bred. Blossoms-to-be on my babies!
They have, for the past 2.5 to 3 weeks, been blossoming beautifully! And quite the surprise to me: Each plant (there are at least 8 different plants) produces a different colored/shaped blossom! This is an education. For some reason I figured--since the seeds are all from one pollination--that each plant grown from these seeds would be the same. They are not! It's not like twins or octuplets or some such at all. My friend says it's like siblings: All same parentage, different looks.
Well, here they are. Introducing my babies:
My friend says this one is worth watching and may be a candidate to register and produce for the market. How exciting!:
I am documenting each plant so when I transplate them this autumn, I will know which plant produces which blossom.
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