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| The North Star Lily Society’s |
| Tips for Growing Lilies |
| Lilies are the most regal of all flowers - true garden aristocrats. Stunning in cut arrangements, potted, naturalized, or in formal gardens, lilies are favorites of florists, landscape designers, and home gardeners alike. Lilies are as easy to grow as any other perennial if you select varieties that are suited to your growing region and follow a few simple rules. Your garden can have lilies in bloom from May through September. |
| Types of lilies and their average bloom time are: |
| Martagon Lilies, which also love the filtered sun/shade, bloom in late May and through the month of June. |
| Asiatic Lilies, hardy and easy to grow, begin blooming at the end of June and extend their bloom through July and later blooming cultivars will continue to give color into August. |
| LA Lilies, with their huge flowers, bloom from late June through July. |
| Oriental Lilies, shorter lived in Minnesota but still lend a lot of beauty and outstanding fragrance to the garden, bloom throughout August. |
| Orienpet Lilies, a cross of fragrant Oriental Lilies and Trumpet Lilies, bloom from mid July to late August. |
| Trumpet Lilies, bloom from late July to mid August. |
| Species Lilies, found around the world growing in the wild, can be found blooming throughout the entire blooming season, depending on the variety. |
| Planting, growing and enjoying! |
| Plant the bulbs as soon as possible on arrival, weather permitting. If this is not possible, keep the bulbs in the coolest place, which must be frost-free. Do not store in the refrigerator where apples are also being kept. A gas given off by the apples will cause the lily bulbs to rot and die. |
| While lilies do not require special soil, they must not be planted in any location where water will stand on the bulbs. A porous, rapid-draining soil is best. Work the soil to a depth of about 8 inches and incorporate a generous amount of well-rotted manure and compost. Plant the bulbs 4" to 6" deep and also give them enough elbowroom. A radius of at least 6 inches per bulb gives each stem it's own spot in the sun. If your soil contains too much clay, add sand, moistened peat moss, or compost to increase porosity. It has been said that lilies, like clematis, “prefer their heads in the sun and their feet in the shade.” Shredded leaves or leaf mold make excellent mulch material. Planting among ground covers such as vinca or ferns can also give good cover for the bulbs. To obtain best results in years to come, add a fresh top dressing of compost in autumn when plants have died down. Water should be applied liberally during extended dry periods. Lilies should be dug and separated every 3 to 5 years to prevent overcrowding. |
| Lilies are heavy feeders and should be fertilized early in the spring and again after they are done blooming. Apply a complete fertilizer or a combination of organic nutrients that provide adequate amounts of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. Water thoroughly. Shoots sometime emerge in early spring before the last frost. If a heavy frost or freeze is predicted, cover the lilies so the buds will not be ruined. Do not cultivate deeply around your lilies since there are feeder roots near the surface of the soil that can be easily damaged. |
| Depending on the variety, blooms begin in May and continue through September. For cut arrangements, the blooms will last longer if the buds are cut when they are fully colored. Be aware that cutting more than one-third of the length of the stem will weaken the bulb for next year. Remember, the more foliage this year, the more blossoms you will have next year. When blooming is over, cut off the developing seedpod but leave the stem and all the leaves. Lilies can be propagated by using scales from the bulbs or with bulblets produced on the underground stem. Either method requires two to three years for a bulb to reach sufficient size to produce a bloom. |
| More Lily Information |
We
plan to add more information about lily culture on this page.
We will be |
| For further lily culture information visit the North American Lily Society website: www.lilies.org. |