My Lily Roots at Last

I've finally received the long-awaited lily roots from QVC that I ordered from Cottage Farms on February 8.  Naturally QVC waits until the recommended planting date before sending them to you.  I've never planted bare roots before and certainly never planted them in Florida soil/sand, so wish me luck!  I bought my favorite Miracle Gro Garden Soil to put around the roots to give them a good healthy start.  The soil contains fertilizer so all I have to do is keep them watered.  I've had pretty good luck with plants from Cottage Farms so far but this past winter's colder weather has almost killed several plants.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they spring back now that the days are warmer.  The nights are still cooler than normal, though.  The ugly picture below is how the roots look when you get them.

I dug a hole twice as big and twice as deep as the roots and filled it with my garden soil.  I mounded the soil up in the center, positioned the roots so they would surround the mound, then put good garden soil around the roots up to the level of the ground.  A good watering and a little bark mulch finished it off.

Looks dead, doesn't it?  It's really just dormant.  It will grow beautifully - I have faith in Cottage Farms roots and plants.  They've always done well for me.

And here it is all finished with mulch.  The weather on the Treasure Coast is perfect now and I've been doing a lot of cleaning up around my established plants, as well as weeding around the vegetables I planted a little earlier.  Everything is going like crazy.  We're having 70-80 degree days and plenty of sunshine.  The tomato plants are really growing well with at least 6 or 7 green tomatoes.  I've had a ripe strawberry already and lots more to come.  This is the exciting part of gardening:  seeing what is new each day on the plants and watching them ripen.  Usually I just pick a tomato off the vine or a pepper or strawberry and eat it right away. 

Below is a photo showing how much the lilies have grown in only 2 weeks!  I planted them in a circle around the palm tree in my front yard.

It's hard to imagine that this is the bare root I planted on March 19, isn't it?  Hopefully, they will be blooming in a month or two.