Lily: One Flower Is Already A Bouquet

Frontera OT hybrid

Lilies are very unpretentious plants; they grow in one place up to 5-6 years. For 3 years they are not transplanted at all unless absolutely necessary, that's when they will show all their beauty.

How we came to the lilies

My husband and I have been growing flowers on a serious scale for about 20 years. We started with gladioli, planted up to 15,000 corms. This was very troublesome as they had to be dug up and stored in the basement for the winter. We decided to try the lilies - we liked it very much. Then they began to grow irises, now we have about 300 varieties. Then daylilies appeared (varieties 70). We also have tulips, daffodils, and crocuses in our garden.

Our new hobby is peonies, they are still represented by 12 varieties, but, as practice shows, this is just the beginning!

The fact that one of my husband's backgrounds is agronomic makes it much easier to grow flowers. Although, always before doing something new, we study a lot of specialized literature and learn from the Internet.

Today I want to share with readers some of the features of growing lilies. So, sketches from our experience.

Our son Anton also knows a lot about flowers!

Buy in spring and replant in autumn

It is better to buy lily planting material in spring. Keep in mind that the larger the bulb, the more buds it will produce in the first year of flowering. Although the price depends on the size of the bulb: the larger, the more expensive.

Photo by Mikhail Solunin

I recommend purchasing lilies in bloom along with the bulb. This is the best option. You see what you are buying. They take root perfectly, you don't even need to cut the flower before planting. Just be sure to check for the presence of the bulb, in the bag on the trunk there should not only be roots. Sometimes not very experienced growers dig up and divide the bush for sale incorrectly.

I do not recommend purchasing lilies in autumn. Bulbs for off-season forcing are most commonly sold at this time. They come with sprouts, which means that they have not had summer bloom and are not ready for winter. Most likely, such lilies will die. If for any reason you still have bulbs in the fall, then be sure to break off the sprouts before planting. Although this does not give confidence that they will take root.

But if it's time to plant your lilies, do it in the fall.

Better to under-feed and under-water

Lilies love sandy loamy slightly acidic soils.

When planting, humus and a complex of mineral fertilizers are introduced - 2 tablespoons per 1 sq.m. In general, I recommend digging a hole deeper, putting humus on the bottom, then ground again, and on the ground - a bulb. This top dressing will last for 3 years.
The first 2-3 years of feeding are optional. It is better to under-feed and under-water a lily than vice versa.
In the future, nitrogen fertilizers should be scattered over the last snow - 1 tablespoon per 1 square meter (ammonium nitrate or urea).
In the budding phase, superphosphate should be added with incorporation into the soil.
After flowering - complex fertilizers.
Ash is good at any time of the year, as it is also an antiseptic.

LA hybrid Golden Tycoon

The nuances are small, but they have all the salt

The minimum planting depth is three bulb diameters. Don't be afraid to go deep. The distance between plants is at least 20 cm.

Lily shoots are very fragile, be careful when loosening the soil - if you break off the sprout, then it will only sprout next year.
Treatment for diseases should be carried out when shoots appear with any fungicide. Ideally - use Fitosporin-M in the form of a paste. Then repeat the treatment every 15-20 days.
Collect pests (fire beetles, caterpillars) by hand.
Don't let the flowers bloom on the stem. At the end of flowering, remove the flower with the seed pod. Then the bulb begins to actively grow and develop (this, by the way, generally applies to all flowers). Otherwise, it will take a lot of effort to ripen the seeds, and the plant will go weaker in winter.
For the same purpose, when cutting for a bouquet, leave as many leaves as possible over the bulb.

Forever OT hybrid

As soon as the buds of the light varieties have blossomed, remove the anthers (stamens) so that they do not stain the petals. Otherwise, from the wind and rain, the flower will become covered in spots.

The bulb is not pollinated. If a seed pod falls into the ground, then an already re-pollinated variety will grow from the seeds. Therefore, after flowering, be sure to remove the top of the stem or break off all the seed pods.

In autumn, do not remove the lily stem until frost. But in winter, be sure to twist or cut the stem to the very root. Otherwise, moisture will flow through it into the middle of the bulb. During frost, it will freeze, and the bulb will hurt.

Lilies are generally afraid not so much of frost as of excessive moisture, prolonged autumn rains or winter thaws. Do not plant lily bulbs in lowlands or under roofs unless they have a drain. If it is too rainy in autumn, it is better to cover the planting.

You won't relax with the Eastern ones

A little about Oriental hybrids. Now we do not deal with them, but there was a time and we grew them. "Vostochki" are very beautiful and fragrant, but, unfortunately, the most capricious, unstable in the conditions of central Russia.

For the winter, you can first cover them with dry sawdust or hay (not straw), on top - with a film and fix it so that the shelter does not get wet.

You can dig up the bulbs in the fall and store them in your basement until spring. Place the bulbs in a hermetically sealed container and sprinkle with sawdust or peat. But in this case, you will not see all the beauty of flowering. Because, as I said, the lily will show itself in all its glory only in the 3rd year, if it is not dug out.