WRLS Lily Culture

Lily Culture in Ten Easy Steps

Obtain in the fall or early spring, plump, healthy bulbs of good varieties from a reliable dealer or a WRLS Bulb Sale.
Plant the bulbs immediately in a well drained site. If drainage is poor and cannot be easily improved, plant in raised beds. Lily bulbs, except L. candidum, should be planted in a hole or trench whose depth is about three times the length of the bulbs-no more than 4 inches of soil should cover the tops of Asiatic bulbs, 4-6 inches of soil over the tops of trumpets. Candidum lilies like shallow planting and should never have over an inch of soil over the top of the bulb. Nearly all lilies thrive in full sun or partial shade. Do not plant next to basement foundations or in deep shade.
Protect the roots from high soil temperatures with a light mulch or low growing perennials. In nature most lilies are found in association with low-growing shrubby bushes or with various perennial plants. They do, however, get their heads up into the sun.
Lilies are heavy feeders and respond to fertilizers like 5-10-10, 10-10-10, or 12-12-12. A complete fertilizer applied as soon as the plants emerge is good.
In areas where there are late frosts, planting near protected areas is good. In extreme cases, any sort of overhead cover is quite effective if frost is threatening. Remember, if the tips of your lilies are affected by frost, you may experience a distorted stunted tip and no flowers or flowers that look atypical. Therefore, a good rule to remember is not to uncover your lilies to early in the springtime and keep some sort of mulch at hand: leaves, dried grass, boxes and the like.
Most modem hybrid lilies have been bred and selected for resistance to disease. It is rarely necessary to take any control measure other than ordinary sanitation control. Remove all old stems and foliage in the fall and destroy them. Lilies are almost insect proof, and only a few species of aphids can really play havoc with them. In this case the use of a good insecticide such as Isotox can be helpful. Botrytis leaf spot is not likely to become a problem except in very humid, cool weather areas. It may be controlled with a fungicide such as Benlate, As with people taking medication, read the directions on the labels of your insecticide(s) and fungicides. Taking too much of a "good thing" has been known to make only more problems...
Remove old flowers as they become unattractive and do not allow seed pods to form. Do not cut the stem back to ground level after bloom season is through. The bulb needs the leaves and stem to achieve maximum bulb development for the next year's flower crop. For cut flowers, do not remove more than one third of the foliage, In the fall, wait until the stem turns brown/yellow before remov-ing the stem.
Lilies respond to a good drink of water, but don't over water. Let your lily tell you what it needs... if droopy, check out the soil to see if watering is needed. Make sure your lilies are mulched in the summertime to retain soil moisture and to keep their stem roots cool!
Transplant your lilies when they become crowded, say every 3-5 years, replant the immediately and make sure to water after doing so. Late Septernber and October are ideal times to dig lilies.
After the ground freezes, mulch for winter with leaves, marsh hay, dried grass clippings or pine needles. Then, put your feet up and read articles about growing lilies as found in the Wisconsin Regional Lily Society's newsletters through the long winter months. Finally, share your lilies with others.
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Lily Culture in Ten Easy Steps