These little black growths, called bulbils, are really aerial bulbs. They contain all the genetic material needed to start a new plant. They form between the leaf and stem on tiger lilies and several other hardy lilies. In nature, these bulbils drop to the ground and eventually grow into a flowering bulb.
If they fall off the plant, they rarely grow into large plants, so it's best to remove the bulbils by hand and plant them in pots. Grow the bulbils on until the following summer, then plant them out where you would like them to flower. Be patient; it can take up to three years before they start producing flowers.
Pick off the bulbils
Pick the bulbils from the leaf axils carefully, avoiding any damage to the young roots or the tiger lily plant. They should come away fairly easily, as in nature they eventually just drop to the ground. Place the bulbils in a paper bag or other handy container as they go.
Tiger lilies thrive in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 9. The seeds, actually called “bulbils,” are small round structures, typically dark purple to almost black in color. Bulbils are found at the plant's leaf axils -- the area where the leaf joins the stem.
Lily Leaf Beetles can desecrate an entire plant in days leaving black gooey gobs of poop in their wake. If that isn't enough to make you pass on lunch, the black goo actually is home to the baby lily leaf beetles.
From a plant health perspective, seed pods should be removed so that daylilies will produce more flowers next season. Deadheading daylilies isn't difficult, only time consuming. Don't feel like you have to deadhead your daylilies every day.
It's easy to grow tiger lilies from their seeds, or bulbils. They can be planted in the fall after they've ripened on their parent plant or in the spring after the danger of frost has passed. Plant each bulbil, roots downward, roughly 1/2 to 1 inch deep. The spot should receive bright, indirect light.
The tiger lily can be easily propagated with these. They are removed from the mother plant in the late summer and placed in a pot with potting soil at a depth of about 0.79 inches. It takes about three years for these bulbils to form grown plant flowers.
Plant Expert Reply:
The lily family has many members most of which form round black seeds. Usually the seed form at the end of a bloom stem. You can plant the seeds now or harvest and save them to plant later. If you want to save them wait until the pod opens and collect the seed.
You can plant them if you wish, with only an inch of soil covering the tip of the bulbil and in two years, should see a first flower.
As summer eases towards fall, your lilies will die back. Cut back the stalks when all the leaves yellow. Remove them to the ground, and allow the plant to go dormant for the winter. Annual pruning prevents future plant diseases in your garden and reduces pests.
The Old Farmer's Almanac recommends deadheading lilies before the bulbils form so that the plant's energy will go toward next year's blooms instead of trying to reproduce. Snip off tiger lily flowers as they start to fade, making the cut right at the base where the flower attaches to the stem.
The bulbils will eventually drop off the flower stalk and potentially take root. Rather than waiting for them to drop off, it is easy to gently twist the bulbils off. A sharp knife can also be used to gently cut the baby plant off the stalk. These plants often have roots already, ensuring propagation success.
Plants that thrive with coffee grounds as fertilizer is blueberries, carrots, roses, hydrangeas, azaleas, hollies, lilies, rhododendrons, and cabbage.
Tiger lilies have a bulb that looks like a head of garlic, so division is simple. Just break off the smaller bulbs from the central bulb. You can then plant the bulblets to create new and re-energized plants.
Plant at least 10 bulbils of each variety in a plastic pot at least 6 inches deep (10-12 inches is better). They should be planted just one inch deep, and 1-2 inches apart from each other in the container. A plastic pot 6 inches in diameter should give plenty of room for 10 bulbils evenly spaced.
Lilies do not bloom more than once per season, but you can remove the faded flowers so that the plants don't waste energy making seeds. After the lily blooms, you can also remove just the stem itself. However, do NOT remove leaves until they have died down and turned brown in fall.
You can roll the bulbils out with your fingers and plant them nearby, one-half inch deep, in soft soil. They will likely sprout a leaf or two by fall. Leaves will disappear with cold weather but most bulbs will survive the winter just fine. Water and fertilize the lilies that come back next spring.
The usual method for growing garlic is to break each bulb (the part that grows under the ground) into cloves, and to replant the cloves separately in autumn. Each clove grows into a whole new bulb, which is harvested in mid-summer.
Although tiger lilies are fairly drought tolerant, they thrive when watered deeply once a week. If the blooms look wilted or dry, give them a slow, deep watering more than once a week. Expect flowers to bloom from early summer to fall. Trim damaged or withered stalks and leaves as they occur in the normal growth cycle.
Lilies do not need lifting after they have flowered. Once your lilies have finished flowering, cut the flower head off leaving the stem and foliage to die back naturally. Once everything has died back and turned yellow/brown and hollow, you can remove everything leaving about an inch of stem from the ground.
Some common reasons which indicate why your flowers have become brown or black are poor soil conditions, lack of humidity, improper watering schedule and exposure to cold or hot drafts.
Do lily bulbs need to be overwintered? If you live where no freezing occurs, you can leave the bulbs in the ground all year long. Gardeners in colder climates would do well to pull up the bulbs and save them indoors unless you treat the plants as annuals.