Can I move a bulb now (June)? and garden renovation

by Elaine
(St. Paul, Minnesota)

It's my first summer at the new house and it had at one time a beautiful garden full of perenials which was planted by the original owner and was severely neglected by the owner before us. We are trying to move stuff around in order to kind of start over. There is something growing from bulbs (I know because I dug one up) and i don't know what it is. It has the long slender leaves, but no bloom up yet. I think they may be lillies. I would like to move them because they are being dominated by the plants and weeds around them. Can I do this now in June, or should I wait until the fall?

Doug says you *can* move anything you like in the garden as long as you understand that the plant won't like it and may simply die on you. Moving lilies in full growth before blooming is a recipe for killing the lily but....

Would I move it in mid-June ? Nope. I'd renovate the garden in the early spring or fall when I could dig the entire thing up and renovate properly. Improving soil, cleaning out weeds and moving plants where I wanted them. If I coudn't do the entire garden in one season, then I'd pick the worst areas and do as much as I could do. The move on and maintain what I'd done.

Maintain the other areas as best as possible but do it at the right time of year to ensure the best success.

So yes you can move it but don't count on keeping it alive.