Planting Instructions for Growing Lilies

Lilies are amazing displays of incredible natural beauty with their different color combinations, textures and sizes. Plus they add wonderful fragrance to your garden. Remarkably, they have very simple needs and basically, only require you to plant them in the right place. Choose a well-drained location with at least half a day of sunshine. If it’s too shady, the stems will stretch and lean towards the sun; that isn’t much to ask out of any gardener. Most lilies love full sun, as long as the bulbs are deep enough to keep cool when temperatures soar. If the planting spot is too shady, the stems will lean a little toward the light. Trumpet lilies are the most shade sensitive. To keep the ground cool, mulch the area you plant your lilies.

After you receive your bulbs, you can plant them right in the soil. The sooner you plant your bulbs, the better they will grow and perform. In mild climates, they can be planted anytime the ground is not frozen solid. In colder climates, planting in the fall and early winter will produce stems that flower at the expected time for your zone listed for each type and variety of lily. Planting late in the spring will produce later flowering stems, which may be a little shorter than usual if hot weather comes quickly. But the following winter will reset the lilies' "clocks" and put them on the regular blooming time. Bulbs received from a nursery are usually sent at mature flowering size grown for at least two years in their own fields. Many lily species and species-like Asiatic lilies grow tall stems with many flowers from small bulbs. Larger bulbs of these types are less adaptable to transplanting. Trumpets typically produce larger but readily transplantable bulbs. Oriental bulbs vary depending upon their ancestry.

If you want to make up for a late start or are impatient, you can pot your bulbs and leave them in a "root cellar" environment until sprouts appear. As long as moisture is adequate, they will begin to form roots at very cool temperatures. When it is warmer, you can move the pots outside or transplant the rooted mass right into your garden.

It is important to look for a spot that is the first to dry out after rain because lilies can be bothered by botrytis, a fungus that spots the leaves in prolonged cool, wet weather. If you do see "bull's eye" or brown spots on the leaves, use a copper-based spray or any fungicide recommended for roses to guard against botrytis. Botrytis does not hurt the bulbs, but it reduces the leaf area that should be manufacturing sugar to grow a bigger bulb for next year.

As long as the whole sprout is planted deep enough, lilies with very long sprouts will grow beautiful stems, and the stem will come up nice and straight. If you want to cut the gorgeous flowering stems, leave the bottom two-thirds of the stem, in order to make a nice bulb for the following year. Plant the bulbs 4" to 6" deep. Make sure are planted deep enough so that they stay cool in the summer. Deeper-planted bulbs will be really well anchored. One way to accomplish deeper planting is to make a raised bed, with the lily bulbs at ground level and the soil placed 4" to 6" or deeper on top of them. It isn't necessary to feed the lilies unless your soil is poor or you want to raise super show-lilies. If you fertilize, put on a little well-balanced fertilizer at emergence time and about a month later. Slow-release fertilizers are also good. After flowering, lilies only rarely need more water.

Lilies will increase by division and by growth of small bulbs along the old below-ground stem. Clumps getting too thick will produce weaker stems, so it is a good idea to lift and divide them in September or October.

Dayelle Swensson is an avid writer for the web on a number of topics. Having gardened herself for many years, she is able to advise others about a variety of things including gardening tips, lawn and tree care, watering, hose reel and keeping your home garden looking good and healthy.