Monday, May 2, 2011

Plant Your Easter Lily in the Garden


Thousands of lovely Easter lilies were part of the celebration and most will be relegated to the rubbish bin, discarded as useless. However since the flowering lily springs from a bulb your plant may be easily integrated into the garden to provide beauty for many years to come.

Easter Lilies usually bloom in summer but were ‘forced’ to bloom early for Easter so do not expect any more action until next year; the bulb needs to rest. The lily enjoys sun on her head but a coolness about her feet, so pick a sunny place in the garden and tuck the bulb amongst other guests. Also, our driving winds or extreme heat may adversely affect the lily, so a site with some afternoon shelter and shade is preferable.

As you pull your lily from the pot, you will notice the extreme root growth that has occurred from being in a greenhouse under conditions which provided the premature blooms. If the roots are tightly bound in a circular pattern, the lily was grown in too small a pot and is ‘root bound’. The roots must be loosened and spread out to allow the poor thing to grow without strangling itself. Loosen the roots and it will not harm the bulb if some are cut back a bit.

Root Binding must be eased~

Dig a hole that is twice the width of the root ball and five or six inches deeper. Work some potting soil into it and then plant your lily, spreading the newly loosened roots down and out. Often there will be three bulbs in a standard Easter lily pot so carefully divide them and plan on planting them six or seven inches apart. Fill the hole with soil, and water while working your hands in the mush. Jiggle and wiggle the plant while looking for air bubbles to surface and when no more appear, there are no hidden pockets to cause rot. Once the water level has receded, lightly water once again.

Cut off the wilting flowers, but wait to cut back the foliage until it appears yellow; the foliage will nourish the bulb and help store energy for flowers next year. The unforced flowers will appear on time... in the early summer when the lily normally blooms. Your lily will live for many years, reminding you of the joyous occasion when it was introduced as a guest at an Easter gathering.

*This spring I noted the profusion of flowers available at almost all retail outlets. Many have been forced like the lilies and flowers which normally bloom in mid to late summer are in full bloom now. The novice gardener may be lured into purchase by appearance and is often unaware the blooms are practically spent; the plant will not bloom again this year. To avoid expensive mistakes, perhaps plant a packet of seeds... they will not provide an instant garden but watching them grow to adulthood is a daily thrill.

20 comments:

  1. Wow! Finally I got a web site from where I be capable of in fact obtain helpful information concerning my study and knowledge.


    Here is my web page grains de café vert

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an very long comment but after
    I clicked submit my comment didn't appear. Grrrr...
    well I'm not writing all that over again. Regardless, just wanted to say
    superb blog!

    Also visit my blog :: Buy 50 youtube likes [Fiverr.com]

    ReplyDelete
  3. An outstanding share! I've just forwarded this onto a coworker who had been
    doing a little research on this. And he actually bought me lunch simply because I discovered
    it for him... lol. So allow me to reword this.... Thank YOU for
    the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending time to talk about
    this matter here on your website.

    My web site - sim city vollversion download

    ReplyDelete
  4. First off I would like to say superb blog! I had a quick question which I'd like to ask
    if you do not mind. I was interested to know how you center yourself and clear your head before writing.
    I have had trouble clearing my thoughts in getting my ideas out there.
    I truly do enjoy writing but it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes
    are wasted simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions or tips?
    Kudos!

    Look into my blog :: increase facebook fans

    ReplyDelete
  5. I don't even understand how I ended up here, but I assumed this post was once great.

    I do not understand who you are but definitely you are going to a well-known blogger if you
    happen to are not already. Cheers!

    Here is my web-site; finch market

    ReplyDelete
  6. I аm sure thiis ρaragraph haѕ touched all the internet viewers, its really really
    good piecе of writing on Ьuildіng up neew websіte.


    Also visit my webpage green trust cash customers

    ReplyDelete
  7. I havent any word to value this post.....Really i am inspired from this post....the individual who make this post it was an extraordinary human..thanks for imparted this to us. havehegn

    ReplyDelete
  8. 2AED57F47FJoshua415DD205B2November 25, 2024 at 6:46 PM

    ABD3C6E9E4
    show

    ReplyDelete