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Growing Lilies
How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Lilies
How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Lilies
Lily Oriental Colorado
Longfield GardensEveryone loves lilies. With large, showy blooms, lilies add striking elegance to the yard and garden from early to midsummer. Grown from bulbs, lilies are perennial flowers that will return year after year and require minimal care, provided that you plant them in the right place.
Lilies have six plain or strikingly marked tepals (“petals”) and are often trumpet-shaped, sitting atop a tall, erect stem with narrow, long, lance-shaped leaves. They come in many beautiful colors, including pink, gold, red, orange, and white.
Asiatic and Oriental lilies are the most popular garden lily varieties. Asiatic lilies bloom first in early summer (in June), right after peonies. They are not fussy as long as they are grown in well-draining soil. They are the shortest type of lily (about 2 to 3 feet tall) and come in many colors, from pastel to tropical. They don’t have much of a fragrance, but they do add bright color to the garden. It’s the Oriental lilies that have that famously strong fragrance. They are tall and stately (4 feet), and tend to grow more slowly, often blooming about the time when Asiatic lily flowers are fading (mid- to late-summer).
What are “True Lilies”?
True lilies grow from bulbs and are of the genus Lilium. Daylilies (Hemerocallis), despite having “lilies” in their name, are not true lilies. Daylilies have many leaves that grow from a crown, whereas true lilies generally have only one stem or shoot that grows from the bulb. Similarly, peace lilies, canna lilies, and calla lilies are not true lilies. Learn more about “true” lilies.
When do Lilies Bloom?
Lilies tend to bloom from early summer to fall, depending on the type. By carefully blending early, mid-season, and late varieties into your garden, you will enjoy their magnificent blooms from spring through first frost. At home in both formal and naturalistic settings, most lilies also take readily to containers. Plus, they make great cut flowers!
Asiatic lilies come in a range of bright, beautiful colors.
Planting
When to Plant Lilies
- Plant lily bulbs in the fall, a few weeks before the winter brings freezing temperatures. Bulbs planted in the autumn will have well established roots in the spring. The bulbs benefit from a winter chill to produce big blooms.
- We do advise planting in spring in areas with particularly harsh winters. Container-grown lily plants can be planted anytime during the summer.
- Buy the bulbs close to planting time. You don’t want to buy the bulbs in the fall and wait until spring to plant them.
How to Plant Lilies
- Select a site with soil that drains well. How can you tell? After a good rain, find a spot that is the first to dry out. Water trapped beneath the overlapping scales on the lily bulb may cause rot, so a well-drained site is essential.
- Lilies need lots of sun. For dependable blooms, lilies need 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight a day. If it’s too shady, the stems will attempt to lean towards the sun or get spindly and fall over.
- Lilies are best suited for Zones 3 to 8. They do not thrive in Zones 9 and 10 without a period of refrigeration; they need a cold, dormant period.
- Most of the popular varieties prefer acidic to neutral soil, but some are lime-tolerant or prefer alkaline soils (e.g., Madonna lilies).
- Loosen the soil to a depth of 12 to 15 inches. The deep planting encourages the developing stem to send out roots to help stabilize the plant and perhaps eliminate the need for staking. Also, deep planting keeps lily bulbs cool when temperatures soar.
- Enrich the soil with leaf mold or well-rotted organic matter to encourage good drainage. Learn more about soil amendments and preparing soil for planting.
- Plant the bulbs 3 times as deep as the height of the bulb and set the bulb in the hole pointy side up. Fill the hole with soil and tamp gently.
- Space bulbs at a distance equal to three times the bulb’s diameter (usually about 8 to 18 inches apart, depending on the variety).
- For a good effect, plant lilies in groups of 3 to 5 bulbs.
- Water thoroughly.
Care
How to Care for Lilies
- During active growth, water freely—especially if rainfall is less than 1 inch per week.
- Keep lilies mulched so that their roots are cool. The mulch should feel moist, but not wet. Read more about mulching.
- Apply a high-potassium liquid fertilizer every 2 weeks from planting until 6 weeks after flowering.
- Apply a thin layer of compost each spring, followed by a 2-inch layer of mulch.
- Stake tall lilies.
- Lilies do not bloom more than once per season, but you can remove the faded flowers so that the plants don’t waste energy making seeds.
- After the lily blooms, you can also remove just the stem itself. However, do NOT remove leaves until they have died down and turned brown in fall. It’s very important not to cut back the leaves until the end of their season because hey help provide nourishment to the bulb for next season’s blooms.
- Cut down the dead stalks in the late fall or early spring.
- Before winter, add 4 to 6 inches of mulch, simply to delay the ground freeze and allow the roots to keep growing. Leave the mulch until spring once the last hard frost has passed. See your local frost dates. See your local frost dates.
- If your region doesn’t have snow cover, keep soil moist in winter.
- When lily shoots grow through the mulch in the spring, start to remove it gradually.
- Divide plants every 3 to 4 years as new growth begins in the spring. Just lift the plants and divide the clumps. Replant the new bulbs adding some compost.
Pests/Diseases
- Gray mold is sometimes a problem, especially in a wet, cool spring or summer. Make sure lilies are not crowded and have plenty of air circulation.
- Viruses, spread by aphids, may be troublesome, although some cultivars are virus-tolerant.
- Red lily beetles, slugs, and snails may occur.
- Deer, rabbits, voles, and groundhogs may eat entire plants. If these critters are a problem, plant the bulbs in buried wire cages to protect them from getting eaten.
Harvest/Storage
Displaying Lilies in Vases
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Lilies make wonderful cut flowers. However, avoid cutting off more than a third of the stem, which can reduce the plant’s vigor and longevity.
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If you are growing lilies strictly for cut flowers, consider planting them in a designated cutting garden, where you can plant fresh bulbs each year.
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When cutting lilies, choose those with buds that are just about to open, with a bit of the flower color showing. The higher up buds will open as the bottom ones fade.
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Just one lily stem in a vase can be a show-stopper.
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As soon as you get lilies inside, trim the stem ends an inch or so, making a diagonal cut with a sharp knife.
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If you worry that the orange pollen of lilies might cause stains, simply snip off the stamens in the flower’s center.
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Before arranging in a vase, remove the lower leaves on the stems so that no foliage will be underwater.
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A good lily arrangement will last two or more weeks. Change the water every few days.
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To help prolong the flowers’ life, add cut-flower food to the water. Lilies require only half the amount of food recommended for other flowers.
Recommended Varieties
There are many types of lilies which bloom at different times. You can enjoy lilies all summer long if you plant bulbs from different varieties.
Asiatic lilies are the earliest to bloom and the easiest to grow. With their upward facing flowers, they bloom early to midsummer. Hardy in Zones 4 to 9, Asiatic lilies come in pure white, pink, vivid yellow, orange, and red. Intense breeding has erased much of the Asiatics’ fragrance, but in spite of their lack of perfume, they are a favorite with floral arrangers.
- ‘Crete’: deep pink, blooms June to July, 3 to 4 feet tall
- ‘Enchantment’: orange, blooms in June, 2 to 3 feet tall
Trumpet lilies bloom mid-summer. Tall with trumpet-shaped flowers, they are hardy in Zones 5 to 9. Trumpet lilies grow many blooms (12 to 15 per stalk!) and have a wonderfully heady, sweet fragrance.
- ‘Regale’: white, blooms early to late summer, 3 to 4 feet tall
- ‘Rising Moon’: pastel yellow with a pink edges, blooms in mid-summer, 3 to 4 feet tall
Trumpet Lilies bloom mid-summer and their blooms are deeply fragrant. Just a few plants can perfume your entire garden.
Oriental hybrids end the season, blooming in mid- to late summer, just when Asiatic lilies are beginning to fade. From tiny 2-footers to towering 8-foot-tall giants, Orientals are always a striking choice (the shorter ones are great for patio beds or container gardens). Adored for their intoxicating fragrance that intensifies after dark, Oriental lilies produce masses of huge white, pink, red, or bi-color blooms. They make wonderful cut flowers that will fill even the largest of rooms with their spicy scents.
- ‘Black Beauty’: dark red, blooms in late summer, 5 to 6 feet tall
- ‘Casa Blanca’: white, blooms August to September, 4 to 5 feet tall
Wit & Wisdom
- The name “lily” can be misleading because lots of other plants use it besides true lilies. Daylilies and water lilies aren’t lilies at all, and neither are lilies-of-the-valley or lilyturf. With so many other plants using the name “lily,” it seems that identity theft has been around since long before the use of computers and credit cards!
- Easter lilies can be planted in the ground in the spring. They may survive several years if you mulch them heavily in the fall, especially in northern regions. If they survive, they’ll bloom in late summer.
- In a flower bed, lilies prosper in the presence of low-growing plants that protect the lilies’ roots from drying out.
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Reader Comments
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Christmas lilies
We purchased beautiful white lilies at Christmas, and planted them in a pot. They bloomed through the holidays, and now the leaves and stalks are brown. What to we need to do to keep them alive so they will bloom again next winter?
Thank you,
Nancy
lilies
i found it very helpful but, i want to know can i grow asiatic lily on north east part of india on febuary
lilly oriental mix bulbs
I am from India, currently we have the October heat which is around 89 deg F during the day...I have put the bulbs in the pot..could you pls advice me the dos n donts & as to how could i get the plant grown successfully..
Lillies
My Lillies have started to shoot already what did I do.?
Lily recommendations
I tried following your recommendations for Lily varieties. But one variety that no longer seems available commercially is the Enchantment. What can I replace it with? Thank you.
Red beetles
My lilies were so big and beautiful this year but I noticed the leaves had holes. I look closer and see red beetles all over them now they are dead (the flowers) and the leaves are gone. Beetles are still there. I read you are not supposed to cut the stems till winter (WI) how do I get rid of the bugs so my lilies return next year and are beautiful again?
Daily lilies
How can I kill daily lilies if I can’t cover them and dig them up and also can’t buy classic herbicide like round-up. I’m looking for a way to silently kill this stupid plant because it’s toxic to cats and there’s some in my community house garden. They are growing in a pot
day lilies
Since they are growing in a pot, you can give them to someone who will appreciate them. Salt, if you must, but you simply cannot go around and kill toxic plants. There are too many for you and a plant has a right to defend itself.
What is or where are "Hardiness zones"?
Does the hardiness zone refer to where I live or where the plant is placed in the garden?
Hardiness Zone
Hardiness zones or “planting zones” are determined by the USDA and refer to the area in which you live and garden. Read more about them and find your zone here: https://www.almanac.com/content/planting-zones-us-and-canada
5 Blue Rare Lily Bulbs
I got these blue flowering lilies from Amazon after seeing them advertised on various online locations. I live in Central Florida - zone 9 - and each question I see here is not answered regarding how to provide these the "cold" period they will need. I see someone said 2 months in the fridge.....which months? Does the plant die back to tell me when it's time to dig them up and refrigerate them? Can you tell me when is the best time? We get a few cold nights in January and February, but I'm not sure that would be enough. I have a cucumin plant that I got through the last winter, but I'm sure it was by luck and by chance!
5 BLUE RARE LILY BULBS
Dear EDITORS
Why no answers? You have answered others....
Hi, zone 9b gardener here.
Hi, zone 9b gardener here. When they say a bulb needs a chilling or cold period, they mean during the winter months, the temperature of the soil the bulbs are planted in has to drop to at least 40 degrees for a week or so in order for the bulb to produce flowers. I've put both lilies and tulips in the refrigerator, wrapped in paper towels or a paper bag, for about a month to six weeks after buying them, and have gotten great results---flowers just as pretty as if I grew them in the northern Midwest where they get frozen for a lot longer.
Another method I haven't tried yet but am thinking of doing this winter is planting the bulbs in the ground as usual, then laying a couple of bags of party ice on top of them. You can't store apples and pears in the fridge while you have bulbs in there, as the gases emitted by the fruit will kill the bulb; since I enjoy apples in the fall and early winter months, this got really inconvenient for me, to the point where I almost bought a dorm fridge to put my bulbs in. But the party ice acts like an artificial blanket of snow on top of the bulbs. Hope this helps! A lot of the advice here is great but mostly applies to gardens in the East and Midwest.
Easter Lily
I let my Easter lily die off and just repotted the bulbs. How do I get the Easter lilies to grow straight rather than have these super long arms of leaves/stem that hangover the pot. Last round, the arms were about 4 ft long. I tried to add steaks in the pots .... grew straight then the rest dropped like it had a mind of its own. I grow mine indoors.
Lily
I was given a plant and told it was a lily. It died and I repotted and now a yr later I have beautiful leaves. Still have no idea what type of lily and based on the leaves in the pot, I can’t find a lily with this type of leaves. I repotted 8 bulbs and 4 grew leaves. Small bulbs produced smaller or thinner leaves than the large bulb. Each bulb produced 3 long leaves with parallel veins. Since it is not quite at the point of flowering, I’m stumped. Before adding bone meal, I wanted to ensure it is a lily. Any ideas?
lilium/lilies
good day! can we order bulbs all colors oF LILIUM? CAN YOU SEND US HERE IN PHILIPPINES?
THANK YOU...!
Re-doing Flower Bed
I'm going to be redoing my flower bed this spring. Currently the bed HAD several Tube plants and I won't be replanting them - I'd like to make the bed all Lilies.
My question is we have white rocks covering the bed (much like Mulch would) - can the Lilies be planted in this bed, or do I need to remove the rocks? (we are in Zone 5a to 6a area my location is in the middle of the 3)
lilies and stone
The lilies can be planted there. The question is how deep is the stone/rock? It would seem to be easier for you if you remove the stone before planting; if you don’t, some of it will tumble into the hole in which you plant each lily and you would soon have rocky soil. If you’re asking will the lilies be able to push through it, maybe; it will depend on how deep it is, therefore the weight and volume of stone. Thinking this through, to be safe, you might do better to remove it.
Lily bulbs in San Diego Zone 10
Hello (what's your name?)
Your website is my gardening book now, thank you so much.
Since you recommended that the lily bulbs need to be chilled for 2 months of winter, I would like to buy some lily bulbs to store them in refrigerator now and will plant them in Spring next year. Do you think it's right to do or what else, please advise.
some quesion i need help please :(
in lily flower :
- Do the female or male parts of the flower develop first?
- Are all of the flower parts developed before the flower emerges from the bud?
dividing the bulbs
They have grown together in a doughnut shape and are white and wet. They look like an onion. I want to separate and replant them next week. How can I separate them?
separating lily bulbs
Let them dry, then pull apart the bulbs. Do not separate the pieces that look like garlic cloves; leave them attached. See here from the North American Lily Society: https://www.lilies.org/culture/propagation/
Lily bulbs
I was given part of a family plant. It is supposed to be some kind of
ruffled lily. What I received is a tangle of roots with little bulbs in it.
How do I plant these?
Thanks
ruffled lily
Our best guess is that your bulb is a day lily. All lilies are planted about the same. See above for guidance.
why have i got pink and white lillies in the same pot.last year
Can you explain why.
Probably because there’s a
Probably because there’s a pink bulb and a white bulb
oriental/asian lilies/seeds?
i have a half dozen beautiful oriental/asian lilies w/full flowering capabilities; at each node from half way up a 3' stalk, i have a small black (what appears to be a seed) lodged at the beginning of a leaf and stalk...are these seeds? and if so, what do i do to make use of them for next year? i'm a beginner here...thank you...
Lillies
The black little nodes between leaves or to the tips of the lilly plants are seeds and when they produce a short root underneath them I roll them off my finger gently and put them in a brown sack with peat moss to winter over in the potting shed, next year to plant individually.
Can you cut down the height of the stalk in the fall?
I live in an apartment and they are getting to tall for my windows that crank out and I don't have anywhere to move them.
Cutting stalk of lily
If this is a true garden lily (versus daylily), then you can remove the stem itself. But do not remove the foliage which it needs to store energy. Once the foliage dies back, you can cut it off.
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