The following are responses to a request for cultural information on the Madonna lily from readers who have grown this lily successfully in their gardens over the years.
Doing Well In Heavy Soil
I planted 5″ inch lily bulbs three years ago, and they bloomed the following year.
This year, they have three spikes to a bulb, standing 5 ½’ feet, and 12 to 18 flowers per spike.
One bulb I dug up measured 12″ inches in circumference.
My soil is rather heavy, as I use bonemeal and dress with a complete commercial fertilizer.
There are about 4″ inches of soil on top of the bulbs. I do not mulch them, but they winter beautifully.
I shall not disturb this bed for at least 2 years when I dig them up and divide the bulbs.
My stock is American grown, and I have excellent success with it.
Not Difficult To Grow In Missouri
Madonna lilies (Lilium candidum) are not difficult here in western Missouri.
We have two beds and dig them up in alternate years. We replant them with a cup of coarse sand under each bulb and an inch of soil above them.
We use neither lime nor fertilizer, finding that slightly acid soil is best.
They do well in either partial shade or full sun and increase in number yearly.
We plant them in August or early September to allow plenty of time for good growth before cold weather.
Although we do not mulch them, the only bulbs we have lost rotted during a cold, wet spring, as they were not well-drained. Both plantings bloom every year.
Botrytis and Thrips Trouble
In January 1995, I received six Madonna lily bulbs. I planted them temporarily, as the ground was unfrozen.
I replanted when they went dormant, in washed sand nests on their thin sides.
I gave one bulb to a friend in 1997. She planted it on its side in a gallon of sand and placed it in sandy loam soil with Bermuda grass sod.
In 1997, it made 23 spikes averaging 6 1/2′ feet tall. Unfortunately, tall shrubs south of the lilies were cut down this year, and botrytis struck the clump.
Due to the disease and lack of shade, it did not do well this year. I also think the mulch of barnyard scrapings she used in the winter of 2006 harmed the plant.
As for my planting, I had trouble with botrytis but checked it by spraying with Bordeaux after I found out what it was from an article on plant-care.com.
I have moved my bulbs several times, but they need moving again as their crowded condition has decreased the bloom.
I also have trouble with thrips, which I do not know how to control. My lilies are now in full sun, and sandy clay loam and are planted without sand nests.
Mulch Yearly In Minnesota
A friend gave me a few Madonna lily bulbs about 5 years ago. She called them St. John’s lilies.
As I suspected they would not be very hardy here, I planted them on the south side of the house. They didn’t bloom that year.
I covered them with a box of leaves the following winter, and the following summer, they bloomed beautifully.
The second winter, I left them unmulched, and that summer, they did not bloom. So now I mulch them each year, and they bloom well.
Unfortunately, they grow in soil with no special care, clay mixed with a little sand, and unfertilized.
As this climate is very tough on perennials and bulbs, I think it possible that I should have lost them if they had not been planted on the south side of the house.
Overcrowded In Five Years
We have had Madonna lilies in our yard as far back as I can remember. They grew in one spot for many years.
Five years ago, we moved them, but they must be moved again this year, as they are crowned and only have 12 to 16 flowers per stalk.
Usually, they have more. Our soil is just ordinary garden soil, clay a few feet down. We sometimes fertilize with well-rotted cow manure, but not often.
We use no mulch. We do not spray. The tops of the bulbs are 3” inches under the ground.
Flowering For 25 Years
For 25 years, my mother-in-law grew her madonna lilies in the same spot without resetting or fertilizing.
Four years ago, I reset them as there were only 8 blooms per stalk. I removed the old soil one foot down, filled 4″ inches with a mixture of straw, manure, and sand, and topped it with good black garden soil containing a little complete fertilizer.
I replanted the bulbs, tilting them slightly, so that water would not settle in the scales causing rot. I covered it with only ½” inch of soil.
They bloomed the next year beautifully. I water only when the plants are in bud and remove all fully-matured flower stalks.
I think the little water and the hot location on the south side of the house keep them free from disease. I mulch them with leaves after freezing weather comes.
New bulbs are easily produced from the scales or by cutting a stalk after flowering, laying it flat on the ground, and covering lightly with soil.