Peruvian lilies appeared

Hi.

We live in north Manchester with a small front garden. We've long had a few azaleas in there as we love their bloom (albeit relatively short) and their hardiness.

Strangely though we've had quire a few peruvian lilies appear within one of the azaleas in the last three years or so. See photo.

They are stunningly attractive and begin to flower not long afrer the azalea has given up. However, we'd ideally like them elsewhere in a more prominent position. So, couple of questions please ...

1. How easy would it be to transplant these elsewhere ? And would a pot be viable ? And when to move them ?

2. How might these lilies have gotten into our garden in the first place ? We've lived here over 20 years and never planted such plants.

3. Is there any specific reason why these lilies would thrive within and next to an azalea ?

Many thanks.

 

It's a mystery! I wonder if there were seeds or bulblets in the azalea's compost when you bought it, and they've only just got to flowering size.
In terms of moving them, I think I would be more concerned about disturbing the roots of the azalea. Although, people do grow them as bonsai so maybe it wouldn't be much of a problem to lift it, separate out the lilies and replant it. Perhaps leave it until autumn if you fancy having a go.

 

Thanks for the reply. The seeds/bulblets theory could potentially be the case -- we've had the azalea for maybe 7 or 8 years, so around 3 years before the lilies started to appear.