Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Caring for your Easter Lily and planting it
Did you receive an Easter Lily this past weekend?
These plants are forced to bloom out of their normal flowering time to be ready for the Christian Holy Day as it is marked by many traditions including the beautiful trumpet-shaped white flowers of lilium longiflorum. They symbolize purity, hope and life.
Caring for your Easter lily:
- Lilies prefer it a little cool, around 60 to 65 degrees
- They also prefer bright light but out of direct sunlight
- If your lily is wrapped in foil, punch a couple of holes in the bottom and place it on a saucer. This enables the excess water to drain
- Speaking of water, water your lily when the soil surface is dry, let the water drain out the bottom and get rid of what’s left in the saucer.
- When your flowers open, remove the yellow anthers before the pollen starts to shed. This prevents the pollen from staining those pretty white flowers and will also prolong it’s life
These plants are actually hardy from zone 5 to 7 and in zone 4 with protection! After all risk of frost is past, move forced Easter lilies outdoors, gradually acclimating them to the new conditions over about a week. Then plant in the ground in sun, placing it at the same depth as it was in the pot or a few inches deeper. If the plant is rootbound, loosen the roots and spread out in the planting hole.
The original plant will die back within several weeks of bloom. Remove the dead growth by cutting it off at ground level. New growth usually emerges by summer. Lucky gardeners may be rewarded with a second bloom in late Summer. If you mulch it well, you may see it again next year!
Click for much more info from the University of Wisconsin.