Thursday, February 7, 2008

Lilies for Your Garden

Many find lilies are among the most plants in their garden. They tend to add beauty, scent, and with a breeze they even add motion. Most gardeners have at least worked with them a time or two. They also look beautiful indoors as well.

Outdoors in your garden, or elsewhere in your landscape, they can make quite the scenic yard for all to enjoy. Indoors, they can have similar effects as well.

 

This article attempts to provide you with some information that will assist you in working with lilies.

 

It's best to plant your lilies in the spring or fall. When using bulbs such as with the garden lily, you will want to plant them in the ground fast as they don't have a good long shelf life. The bulb will grow out into one shoot that has leaves. Daylilies come from a corm grow out with many leaves.

 

When planting bulbs it's best to plant most of them 3 times deeper than the bulbs are wide. This applies to garden lily bulbs.  It's also wise to plant several lily bulbs in the same hole.

 

Propagating lilies isn't that complicated. For the garden lily, breaking off a few scales in the right planting time, and planting them about 1 inch deep is one of the best ways. For the daylily, dividing the corms and planting them does well. Some lilies also form bulbils which may look like black or dark green seeds, where the leaves meat the stem. Though their not actually seeds, they can be planted, and often grow within 2-3 years of planting them.

 

With garden lilies it's good to let the dead blooms stay as the rest of the plant feeds off them, and it will help you to have a better lily again next year. Blooming season for the daylily can be extended by deadheading the blooms and cutting them back to the stem. Whenever cutting off a bloomed lily, it's wise to remove only the stem. Remember, they feed off their foliage and it will improve them the next season as well.

 

Many people receive Easter Lilies at Easter time, and like to plant them outside as well. One problem with Easter lilies is that they are off season. To get them blooming at the perfect time, Easter lilies have to be grown indoors. Some advice that applies better to the Easter lily is to plant them in a sunny place that has decent soil with good drainage. You will also want to use a good planting mix. Planting them about 3 inches under the soil, and mounding an additional 3 inches above will increase the quality of your results as well. And don't forget to water it when done.

 

Lilies can add beauty to your home, garden, and landscape. As a gardener, you want to have the most brilliant combinations you can see and smell. Regardless of the type or types of lily you pick, hopefully this article gave you a heads up. The lily should go well in your garden or landscape.

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