Where and How to Grow Lilies

 

Where and How to Grow Lilies Transcript

Let’s talk about growing Lilies. There’s a Lily for every location, whether it’s in a pot, on your deck, or in the garden. Height is a consideration--shorter varieties in the front, taller varieties in the back. And then there’s drainage--they don’t like wet feet, so make sure you have well-drained soil, or plant them on a slope. The next consideration is your light--they do like full sun, but some part shade will benefit them and make your flowers last longer.

Lilies can be planted in the spring or the fall. Here’s an image of Lily bulbs I unpacked before planting this spring. As you can see, they come in various sizes depending on the type of Lily. Our plant tags tell you how deep to plant each bulb, but if you accidentally lose it, a good rule of thumb is to a dig your hole three times the height of whatever bulb you are planting. Once your Lily begins growing, apply a light application of a balanced, granular fertilizer, or you can side-dress with compost. Water well if it is very dry, and Lilies benefit from mulch.

In late spring, Your Lilies may need staking. You want to choose a stake that’s sturdy and will hold up to the wind and is about half the height of your Lily. Remember, the first year that you plant your Lilies, they’re not going to equal their true size. Over the next few years, they’ll reach their ultimate height. The other thing, when you’re staking, make sure that you don’t lance the bulb, so when you put your stake in, go a little bit outside of where you planted your bulb, but behind the stem, and use a tie-tape that won't strangle the stems.

When cutting Lilies to bring indoors, leave a little bit of stem and foliage on your plant because the foliage is actually going to feed that bulb for next year’s flowering. So for a cut vase, you’re going to cut right about here, leaving this foliage here, and if you’re simply deadheading, you’re going to go right under the bloom. The more foliage you leave, the better for next year’s bloom. In the fall, when you’re doing your garden clean up, make sure that the foliage and stems are yellow before cutting them back. You can also move your Lilies in the fall.

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