Few flowers have gained greater popularity in recent years than the many kinds of hybrid lilies.
These glamorous bulbs, from the far corners of the world, in forms and colors that dazzle the eye, generally reach their flowering peak in July, though there are varieties that start the season off in June and continue into September.
Many home gardeners still believe that lilies are difficult to grow, a concept that sprang from the fact that in the past, many lilies were subject to mosaics and other diseases that were difficult or impossible to control.
Now this is no longer a problem because the new hybrids are resistant to these diseases. In addition, they are hardier, more varied in color and form, and more pleasing because of their fragrance.
Placing Lilies in The Garden
In placing lilies in the garden, it is important to give them prominent settings, as they become their noble character and regal status.
Usually, they are planted singly for accent in flower borders. Still, they are more effective when grouped in clumps, either in flower or shrubbery plantings and at other focal positions under the light shade of high-branching trees where they do well.
So placed, they will command attention and provide enjoyment from many vantage points.
Most lilies need sun for several hours a day, so avoid growing them in the shade, especially if it is heavy.
Wherever placed, however, arrange low-flowering plants around their roots, for like the hybrid clematis, they like shade at their roots, even though their handsome heads must tower high to reach both sun and air.
This is how they grow in nature, among the grasses of the fields and the low shrubs of the woods.
In Growing Lilies
The most essential need is well-drained soil. Otherwise, bulbs will rot easily. Even the Turk’s cap or swamp lily appreciates good drainage, though one of its common names divulges the nature of its native habitat.
Slightly acid soil is best for the most part, with one exception, the madonna lily, which likes lime, for it comes from the limestone areas of the Mediterranean.
Good soil for lilies also implies abundant organic matter, either peat moss, compost, or commercial humus. In any case, avoid animal manures because they cause rotting only unless very well decomposed.
Never allow the manure to come in contact with the bulbs. However, the old manure is ideal as a winter mulch but remove it early in the spring.
Where soil is heavy, sand may be added to make it lighter and improve drainage.
Fall: Best Planting Time
The best planting time is the fall, though lilies can also be planted in the early spring. Autumn is better, however, because bulbs have time to form strong roots and become well-established before growth begins in the spring.
If, for some reason, you can neither purchase nor plant bulbs in the autumn, store them in a cool, dry place for the winter and set out in the early spring as soon as the soil is workable.
One lily, which is the exception, is the madonna. Instead, it requires August or September planting because it sends up shortly after planting, a rosette of leaves that remains green all winter and starts to grow in the spring.
Madonna is also in a class by itself because it requires shallow planting. It should be covered with only an inch or two of fine soil. Otherwise, it will fail to bloom.
The improved Cascade strain is a new disease-resistant and more vigorous variety of this exquisite favorite, with larger blooms.
Planting Depth
Planting depth varies with the various kinds. For the most part, place bulbs so that they have 4” to 6” inches of soil over the tops.
The gold band or auratum lily requires 8” inches of soil over the bulbs, and the regal requires seven.
When planting, a layer of coarse sand placed beneath each bulb will facilitate drainage.
Remember also that lilies can be set out late in the season, in the months of November and December, provided the soil can be worked.
It is also better to plant during a thaw that follows an early freeze rather than hold bulbs for the following spring.
Growing Period
During the growing period, lilies do not require much care. However, allowing them to dry out can be harmful, so apply a mulch of peat moss or pine needles to prevent this.
As they grow taller, stake in keeping flowering heads tall and straight, but be careful not to injure bulbs when inserting stakes into the ground.
If leaf spot diseases show up, start to spray early with verbatim, captan, or another suitable fungicide. Dividing time is in the late summer or fall after the foliage has ripened.
Good Cut Flowers
Lilies make excellent cut flowers, but the foliage should not be removed. It is needed to manufacture the food stored in the bulbs for the next season’s flowers. The blooms may be cut freely, however, without injuring the bulbs.
To make them last longer, cut when the lower buds in the cluster have opened and remove the anthers from each flower as it opens to prevent pollination, which shortens the life of the flowers.
Group of Lilies
Lilies are, generally speaking, divided into three groups.
Recurved Group
The recurved group is represented by blooms resembling the Turk’s cap or the Hanson lily.
In these, the petals curve or roll backward.
Umbellatum Group
The umbellatum group consists of lilies with trumpets that look upwards, like the familiar tiger lily or the new mid-century hybrids like Enchantment or Pagoda.
The lilies of the third group also have trumpet flowers, but these face outward, like the Easter lily of florist shops or the regal lily of gardens.
What are some of the lilies which you might grow to provide a long season of bloom? First, there are the tried and true and the old favorites, which have sentimental value.
The previously mentioned madonna, graceful and delicate, is recommended for early bloom and combining with stately delphiniums, yellow Thermopsis, purple Jackman clematis, and pink or white rambler roses.
Also flowering early, shortly after the madonna, is the Hanson lily, a recurved type with yellow-orange, small-sized flowers noted for their grace. This lily does well in dappled shade and is ideal for naturalizing.
Mid-summer Group
Mid-summer brings a host of these beauties, each vying with one another, for this is the height of the lily season.
The hardy regal is a white trumpet with a lemon-shaded throat that grows from four to six feet tall.
It tolerates light shade and may be used among shrubbery or with bold perennials.
The new hybrids of the noted Canadian lily breeder Isabelle Preston are in the mid-summer group. Variety Brenda Watts is grenadine red, Edna Kean is clear cherry red, and Coronation is a lovely yellow.
The bold colors stand out dramatically against the dark green of evergreens. Also blossoming at this time is the American Turk’s cap or swamp lily, yellow to orange-red and spotted with brown.
It can withstand a more moist location than most lilies and is excellent for naturalizing with other wildflowers. To keep it company, there is the refined, native, or Canada lily.
Late Summer Lilies
Late summer brings one of the most glamorous lilies, the auratum or gold-band lily, much admired for its fragrant, white blooms stained with gold and flecked with crimson.
It is a true exotic combining attractively with delphinium, monkshood, and flowers simultaneously.
However, it is subject to fatal mosaic disease. Still, if you want to try it, you might also consider the breathtaking Pfeiffer hybrids, with blooms seven to eight inches across, delightfully fragrant.
Flowering in late summer or early fall is the showy lily of Japan or speciosum lily, with white recurved blooms splashed with rose and crimson.
There is also an exquisite pure white form. The formosanum lily is one of the most outstanding whites, similar to the Easter lily.
44659 by Geoffrey Price