| |
The
North Star Lily Society’s Tips
for Growing Lilies |
|
| Thank
you for visiting the NSLS website. On October 11, 2008 we'll be
holding our annual fall lily bulb sale. Among
our collection of beautiful lilies for sale, we'll
have a marvelous collection of those hard-to-find martagons
with the best prices in town. Click here to visit
our bulb sale webpage for a listing of our available 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
sharing more of our knowledge about growing lilies from
seed, how to start
new lilies by scales from the bulb and how
to divide clumps of lily bulbs.
|
| For
further lily culture information visit the North
American Lily Society website: www.lilies.org. |
