How to Grow Lilies
Lilies come in an incredible array of colours and are some of the showiest, and often the most fragrant of blooms. They are also easy to plant and to care for and are perennials. No fuss!

Lilies take to container planting but are happiest outdoors. They love sun, but do well in a part-shade area where they'll get a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight.

Of varying heights from lilies make gorgeous cut flowers and are often used in centerpieces for weddings where they can be selected to co-ordinate with the colour scheme, no matter what it is!

Asiatics will bloom the earliest in spring, followed throughout the summer and fall by the heady scented Orientals, often blooming right through Ôtil frost. Then, they come up each year, without you having to worry about them!

How to Plant

While lilies can be planted in spring, the bulbs need a period of refrigeration, so plant your bulbs in Autumn for best results.

Pick a well-drained site or add sand Ð actually, add some sand anyway as the lilies will love it and it prevents the bulbs from rotting, especially where there is a lot of rainfall. Bonemeal is great too.

Note: Low lying flowers or plants help lilies to thrive as they protect the lily roots from drying out.

A good rule of thumb is to plant the bulb three times its length, so loosen the soil to a depth of 12 to 15 inches and plant, pointy side up, allowing about 3X the bulbÕs diameter in spacing.

Deep planting encourages root growth and stabilization for taller species. Planting deep may also eliminate the need for staking if they grow tall.

Note: Lilies vary in height from 1 to 8 ft. or even taller for some of the well seasoned heritage types (Tiger Lilies). The smaller ones do nicely in container plantings, while the tall ones may require staking.

Group them for the best show. Add some mulch for winter, dry leaves are great, water well and wait for spring.
Care

In the spring, add a slow release fertilizer (high potash). Add a thin layer of compost and about 2 inches of mulch.  Lilies do well in most soils so PH is probably fine. In summer, water if rainfall is less than an inch a week, add fertilizer if needed.

In fall, as the flowers die down, cut back to the base of the plant. This is also the time to split off new bulbs.

NOTE!
Asiatic lilies are the earliest to bloom and the easiest to grow. The Asiatics don't have a fragrance which is favoured by some, as the Orientals can be overpowering, especially in floral arrangements.

Oriental hybrids bloom in mid- to late summer, just when Asiatic lilies are beginning to fade. Orientals are loved for their amazing scent that gets stronger after dark, just when you're out enjoying an evening stroll.