Lily
Lilium species and hybrids (LILIACEAE)
Planting and Growing Lily
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow lily in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of lily
- Season of bloom and planting time for lily
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for lily
- When, how deep, and where to plant lily
- How to plant lily
- Watering, fertilizing, care and pests or diseases of lily
- Landscape and indoor uses of lily
- Comments about lily and its features
Growing Lilies
Summer bulb. Deciduous. About 100 species, many hybrids. Stands 2–6 ft. (60–180 cm) tall. Lance-shaped, midlength, shiny, bright green leaves.
See also these featured species representing the lily family: Lily-of-the-valley, Convallaria majalis; gloriosa lily, Gloriosa superba; Mariposa lily, Calochortus species; pineapple lily, Eucomis species; toad lily, Tricyrtis hirta; and torch lily, Kniphofia uvaria.
Lily Planting and Care Guide
Flowers
Summer. Orange, purple, red, white, yellow, often speckled with contrasts. Solitary or multiple trumpet- or star-shaped, often fragrant flowers, 4–10 in. (10–25 cm) wide, usually with prominent stamens and often with reflexed petals.
Best Climates
U.S.D.A. Plant Hardiness Zones 3–10; ground hardy, zones 6–10.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained soil. Fertility: Rich. 6.0–6.5 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Autumn or early spring in full sun to partial shade. Space 6–12 in. (15–30 cm) apart, 6–12 in. (15–30 cm) deep, depending on species.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep moist in summer; water plant at base. Fertilize during growth. Deadhead flowers. Mulch in summer. Propagate by bulbils, offsets in autumn.
Lifting and Storing
Dark, 40–50°F (4–10°C), in net bag or open basket of dry peat moss.
About This Species
Good choice for accents, backgrounds, borders, containers in cottage gardens and landscapes. Good for cutting. Naturalizes. Deer, rodent and leaf fungus, lily-mosaic virus susceptible
North American Lily Society Lily Categories
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- Asiatic Hybrid Lilies
- Aurelian Hybrid Lilies
- Oriental Hybrid Lilies
- Species Lilies
About Lilies
Nearly 100 species and thousands of hybrid members of the Lilium genus are sensuous, sumptuous stars of cottage gardens and formal floral arrangements. They are highly varied in appearance and growth habit. All are native to the northern hemisphere’s temperate zone.
You’ll find their showy flowers along mountain trails and country roadsides as well as in carefully maintained gardens. All are summer bloomers; most are true bulbs (they lack tunicate sheaths and have open scales).
The North American Lily Society classifies lilies in nine divisions, but most commonly planted cultivars comprise just four informal categories, listed above.
Lilies first became popular in North American gardens in the 1930s, when growers first produced reliable stocks and began mass cultivation.
Popular Asiatic hybrids bloom in early summer, with their open flowers facing up, down, or outward.
Aurelian hybrids stem from the Asiatic hybrids but bloom in midsummer with fragrant, bowl-shaped or fluted flowers.
Highly fragrant Oriental hybrids produce huge, bowl-shaped blossoms to 10 in. (25 cm) wide from late summer to early autumn.
Species lilies vary in habit, flower form, and bloom season. Colors run the gamut of copper, pinks, reds, whites, and yellows, even bicolored, with stripes, bands, and speckles sometimes adding to their allure.
Lily flowers may be shaped like trumpets, shallow bowls, funnels, or cups. Some species and cultivars have as many as 20 to 30 blossoms on a stem. Many have petals that reflex—curve back gracefully—to reveal large red, brown, or golden anthers loaded with pollen on long green filaments.
Planting and Caring for Lilies
Plant most lilies in the autumn; in zones 9 and 10, place the bulbs in the vegetable keeper of a refrigerator for 4–6 weeks prior to planting unless your bulbs have been prechilled.
The planting soil should be deep, well-drained, and loose. Sandy loam mixed with humus is best; supplement it with organic matter, if needed.
Lilies thrive with their tops in the sun and their roots kept cool by shade cast from shrubs or bushy perennials. Lilies in exposed sites should be heavily mulched during summer to keep their roots cool. Water them regularly to keep their soil moist.
The planting soil should be deep, well-drained, and loose. Sandy loam mixed with humus is best; supplement it with organic matter, if needed. Lilies thrive when their tops are in full sun, while their roots remain cool in shade cast from surrounding shrubs or bushy perennials.
While lilies are generally hardy, it’s best to protect them with a heavy layer of mulch in U.S.D.A. Plant Hardiness Zones 6–7 if they will overwinter in the garden; all lilies benefit from mulching during the summer to keep the bulbs cool and moist while their foliage and flowers are in full or filtered sun.
Plant lilies in borders or containers, or group them as garden accents. They also are excellent cut flowers. Deadhead spent blooms, leaving as much stem as possible––the foliage provides energy to developing offsets and the parent bulb.
Force lilies by chilling their bulbs, then planting in a deep pot filled with soil, covering the bulbs. Water, then place the container in a warm, well-lit location.