Lilies Care
Lilies are beautiful plants that are easy to grow and the lilies’ care is not tedious or overwhelming as it is for some plants. Many lilies you can just plant in the ground and that’s it--leave them alone--others need a little watering or fertilizer to have an abundance of flowers.
All you have to do is provide some well-drained soil and give them a bit of organic fertilizer when the green leaves start to appear. They like to grow in just about any light from full sun to light shade. If you live in a warm zone where the lilies can be outside year round the lilies’ care is even easier. You don’t have to dig up the bulbs in fall as you do in colder areas. Some lilies will even tolerate a light frost. Just cover the area with some mulch or wood chips and they are ready for the winter.
Some lilies’ care might involve insecticide to kill such pests as beetles, slugs and aphids but other species attract absolutely no pests at all. You should be sure to remove any flowers that have died or dead leaves. Lilies should be planted in groups together not singly such as along a border. Daylilies require hardly any care at all and many of the Asiatic lilies are very hardy with no pests. It is good to keep a minimum of 3-4 lilies together in one spot and it’s ideal if you have smaller plants to grow under them to shade the base of their roots.
Sometimes lilies’ care means setting out stakes for the plants to lean against or building a trellis. This is especially necessary for very tall plants with an abundance of flowers. The last thing you want is a plant stock bending over in the middle because the flowers are too heavy. Make sure you gently tie the stocks. Lilies can live in the same spot for many, many years.
If you do have problems getting enough water to your lily plants, the best way is to use a hose on the ground to give them a good soaking. Watering from overhead is more apt to cause injury to the plants or disease. One of the few problems you can have with lilies is bulb rot, so don’t go overboard with the watering.
There are hundreds of different type of lily plants to choose from with some as small as six inches high while others can grow to over ten feet tall. They also come in every imaginable color so if you tend to think as lilies as being a predominantly white flower, they are now so diversified that they come in every color in the rainbow. And of all flowers, lilies are one of the most beautiful in cut arrangements. If you want to add bright colors to your garden, the answer is lilies-care will be easy to manage.