Sold As Blue Lily Of The Nile, actual name Clivia?

[injunjoe]

I picked this up for my Lily garden.

I had to get the jaws of life out for this one!

A bit scared to start. Any suggestions?
I plan on dividing it up, putting the bigger plants outside and the babies in clay pots to grow a little.

I hope cutting it all up now won't inhibit the bloom in the Spring.
Or on the other hand dividing it may just make it bloom better?

Were would you start?

Thanks; Joe

 

[ducks4you]

I am nowhere NEAR the gardener You are, joe, but I've bought and divided so many clearance tomato plants over the years (before I started saving seeds,) that I'll tell you what I did with them, and it might work for you in this instance.

I put them in a bucket of water and let them sit...for hours. Then I start working the roots apart with my fingers, and gentle tugging, while keeping the roots in the water. I have had tomato plants with roots as bad as this, but I've still managed to get them apart without killing the plants, and, of course their roots are more delicate than this. (Of course, I tackle knots in horse leads that others would leave alone or throw away!!)

 

[journey11]

I've worked up pot bound houseplants using a sharp knife to cut vertical slits every couple of inches around the perimeter then working it loose by hand. This loosens it up just enough and still leaves some nice lengths of root for the plant to work with. Just make sure the knife or boxcutter you use has been cleaned good.

This has worked well for me, but maybe you'll want to wait until Ron weighs in before you go hacking and slashing on your plant there!

 

[ducks4you]

BTW, you piked my interest in this flower, but I'm confused: is this a lily or an iris? The spikes look like iris to me. Is it:
Agapanthus africanus, lily-of-the-Nile, African lily, African blue lily
http://hoeandshovel.blogspot.com/2009/04/six-plants-i-cant-live-without.html ? (this is where I found it online)

WHATEVER it is, I think I want one!!

 

[injunjoe]

That looks like it and is called what I found also!

The Blog you link to is awful, no not that the link is bad, it just makes my garden look like crap!

Joe

 

[ducks4you]

I think they airbrush the plants, like they airbrush pics of models in magazines.

 

[vfem]

I'm with Ducks... I let root bound plants sit in water for several hours. All the while I am working the roots with my fingers and getting a bunch of dirt out while I can. Once you get it lose (not even completely apart) then you cut so you cut as little root as possible this way.

 

[lesa]

You guys are so good and careful...when I see a plant like that I take out my big sharp knife and cut the whole mess, right in half! It works perfectly! Never lost one yet. I'm sure it never hurts to be kind- I'm just not the patient type!!!! You better start work on that roof garden, Joe!

 

[injunjoe]

Well the deed is done.
I planted 3 in my Lily garden, got 3 nice size single plant pots, and one pot with the ity bitys .

Thanks for the ideas they were all good !

Joe

 

[cwhit590]

You guys are so good and careful...when I see a plant like that I take out my big sharp knife and cut the whole mess, right in half! It works perfectly! Never lost one yet. I'm sure it never hurts to be kind- I'm just not the patient type!!!! You better start work on that roof garden, Joe!

lol....that's what I would have done! Serrated knives work wonders on rootbound plants....

Joe, congrats on the new Lily of the Nile! It's beautiful...from the pics I"ve seen. I wish it was hardy up here.