Lily Flower Bulbs
Growing Basics
Planting lilies. is the first thing you have to understand.
Storing Lily Bulbs is something some folks are interested in - here's my simple take on the subject.
Lily Pests
Red lily beetle is a major pest but other than that, lilies are remarkably free of serious pest problems in the home garden.
Lilies That Aren't Lilies
How do you get a lily that isn't a lily? Why when you call it a lily, grow it like a lily but it really isn't a member of the lily family. Here are a few to grow and enjoy.
Leopard Lily or Pardancanda is an orange-spotted or now blotched (picture shown is variety 'Sangria') short lived plant but one that is easily grown if you pay attention to a few details.
Lily Classes
You’ll see several different kinds of lilies available in garden stores and catalogs. These classes or Divisions of lilies are how we commonly differentiate this huge family of garden-worthy plants.
Division One
Asiatic hybrid lilies are characterized by open, usually upward facing flowers and the colour range tends to be on the bolder red, orange and yellow side.
These are usually early blooming lilies and quite hardy.
One of the cheaper of the lilies because they produce quickly in the fields, they can be mass planted for a great show. Planted as single bulbs, they lose their impact, resembling instead a lonely barber pole on a street of cat houses.
They do make an excellent cut flower and with their upward facing bloom they are quite showy in the summer vase. On a technical note, there is more colour and variety choice in Asiatic lilies than any other type of lily.
Division Two
Tiger Lily are Turk's cap lilies; hybrids of Lilium martagon and L. hansonii. Turk's cap are woodland plants. They like the shade.
Division Three
Hybrids of Lilium candidum, the madonna lily. These are one of my favourite lily flower bulbs because of their sweet fragrance.
Division Four
Hybrids of native North American lilies, mostly offspring of the tall Lilium parryi and Lilium pardalinum. The flowers are reflexed, which means that the petals curve back.
Division Five
Lilium longiflorum or the white Easter lily commonly forced for spring bloom. In nature it blooms in mid-summer.
Division Six
Trumpet lilies, derived from Asiatic species. The Aurelia and Olympic hybrids are part of this group. Some have pendant flowers which means they hang down.
Division 7
Oriental hybrid lily flower bulbs and their flowers tend to be much larger and more flamboyant than the Asiatics.
As a bonus, they are fragrant while the Asiatic class is not. T
heir huge flowers have either a sweet or spicy aroma to perfume summer nights. With these huge blooms, they make a truly spectacular cut flower and even a single stem with its multiple flowers can make a bouquet come alive.
Division 8
LA Hybrids. This is a cross between longiflorum lilies (L) and asiatic lilies (A) which gives us the LA designation. Not, as many of you were assuming, from the California city of the same name.
They have a trumpet shaped flower but come in bold colours. Excellent garden performers and only available since 1992, they are not common in local gardens. The only thing missing from this lily is fragrance as the gene was not passed along.
Division 9
are the species lily flower bulbs that are not included in any division above. Unfortunately, wild species - the kind that still occur growing in the wild and which have not yet been affected by hybridization - are not too commonly available for garden use. This is a shame, since these are the very species that are so appropriate for the garden. It is not difficult to see that gardens are being completely flooded with hybrids, with the Orientals and Asiatics in particular being the undisputed leaders. Cheap, huge flowering, fragrant floozies in our gardens leave the smaller, yet refined maiden lily flower bulbs on the walls.
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You may find yours already answered so do check out the lists below
What Other Visitors Have Asked About Growing Lilies
Click below to see what other gardeners have asked about lilies.
Lilies did not bloom this year
My lilies did not bloom this year. Should I dig them up and replant later this year?
Doug says he has some bad news for you. The heat down in Texas ...
Surprise Lily My husband and I live on my parents (now deceased) farm in Northeast Kansas. Every year (in August) we have what my mother called a "surprise lily". One ...
will my Asiatic lily rebloom I bought six partially bloomed Sunray Asiatic Lily plants to plant in my garden. The blooms have died and fallen off. Will it bloom again on its own or ...
Will cold in Fl kill tiger lilies? We recently had temps in the mid 30s for 8 consecutive days in south Florida, and my tiger lilies are totally brown and limp and look dead. Can they ...
When to plant in the South
Confused when to plant lilly and iris bulbs in Jacksonville. I hope for spring blooming.
Doug says that ahhh, there's a problem here. Normally we can ...
winterizing lilies
Do I have to dig up the bulbs for winter?
Doug says that no - lilies do not have to be dug for the winter in your area. They're quite hardy and will ...
My lilys flower leaves have fallen off
My red lilly flowers have fallen off. Due to strong winds. how can i get the flower leaves to come back?
Doug says welcome to the world of gardening....
Those darn lily beetles I have them. Or should I say my lilies do. In all stages of the beetles life. Adults, larva etc. I started using Neem oil spray on them today, & plan on ...
storing Lilium bulbs for the winter
Hi,
I am reorganizing my flower beds and since my lilies were green till today and tonight is expected to go bellow _4 deg C I dug them out. I read ...
storing in winter I dont really know how to store my tiger lily bulb for the winter. I live in northern B.C. Canada and our winters get pretty cold up to - 40 and I am changing ...
Lilies kill cats I just thought I would mention a fact that most people are unaware of - that all lilies are extremely toxic to cats, and often fatal if ingested, since ...
What type of lily would I plant in Minnesota? I'd like to know if there are certain types of bright colored lilies that would be hardy for zone 3 in Minnesota. I'd also like to know the best time ...
Dirt Poor I'm not actually dirt poor, but I do have some sufferin' soil. The flower beds have been worked so that parts are flourishing, parts are still loaded ...
heirloom tiger Lily Zone 10 Can you tell me specifically the reason Tiger Lilies are hardy in Zone 8, but not in Zone 10? Could this be overcome by growing them in potting mix rather ...
any advice to fix a dying lily? hello, a friend of mine gave me tiger lily bulbs, told me to plant them in a pot and that they like direct sunlight and plenty of water. i left them in ...
My Lilies leaves are turning brown My lilies have started to come up, but some of them seem to be droopy. The leaves are curling and turning brown. Not all of them, just some. What should ...
storing and moving lilies I will be moving to Chapel Hill NC from the Atlanta area in OCTOBER. I have hundreds of perennials asnd bulbs to take with me. For my daffodils I am digging ...
gloriosa tubers How long until my tubers begin to bud? It has been about 2 weeks since they have been planted in containers. They are outside, so how often should I water ...
Splitting the lilies for novices (daylilies)
Can I split my large clump of daylilies any time, or must I wait for a specific window of time to divide/replant them?
Doug says - first of all, daylilies ...
When will they grow I live in Oregon and I just planted lily bulbs in my garden. I have never grown lilies and I am wondering if I should expect them to come up next summer ...
Suckers on the lily? My wife has a few lilies in pots in our back yard and this year they are growing strong for all the weather is very unpredictable but there are a lot of ...
When to move my Lily? I was wanting to move my lilies to a different part of the yard, but I am not sure when to do that. Do I wait till after they are done blooming? Or should ...
If you want to ask about lily flower bulbs, click here.
