Though we do our best to provide accurate measurements, the ultimate height any plant reaches will always depend in part on its growing conditions.

Sunlight, water, soil nutrients, temperature, and even wind are all important factors. Give a plant too little or too much of any of these and it will grow shorter or taller than it would in ideal or “normal” conditions.

As you might expect, a shortage of water will keep a plant from growing as tall as it could. Some cannas, for example, may grow just three feet tall in dry or average soil but will reach five or six feet when watered deeply and regularly.

Too little sunlight, on the other hand, can make plants grow taller (and thinner) as they stretch upwards for more.

Though fertilizer usually helps increase the size of plants, too much fertilizer can stunt or even kill them. A soil test is always a helpful guide.

Newly-planted bulbs are often a bit shorter (and later blooming) than well-established bulbs. This is especially true of lilies. Much like many other long-term perennials, lilies almost never reach their full height and beauty till their second or even third year.

Many bulbs start blooming at one height and then keep growing so that by the time their flowers fade they are several inches taller.

And we could go on and on with other examples, but it all comes down to this: the heights you see listed in any catalog, including ours, are only approximations. Please view them as useful guides, not absolutes.