Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Your Easter lily
It was an odd weekend for Easter. While we are social distancing and staying in place, many of our places of worship held online services.
Our local florists were busy delivering Easter lilies to many.
The beautiful trumpet-shaped white flowers symbolize purity, hope and life – the spiritual essence of Easter – a time of renewal.
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
Easter Lilies are poisonous to cats but not to dogs. You can plant your Easter Lily bulb outside after it’s bloomed but they’re not reliable here in colder climates.
You can plant your Easter lily outside. Let it continue to grow for several more weeks. Then you’ll cut off the entire stem. Put the plant, pot and all, into your refrigerator’s vegetable crisper (or cool garage) for about a month. In late May or early June, sink the entire soil ball, bulb and all, in your garden. Or plant in a pot. It should bloom in late August or so. AND grow to its natural height of 3 to 4 ft!
Check out this information from the University of Wisconsin for outdoor planting.
NOTE: They won’t make it through our winters