Easter Lily – Questions Answers and FAQs

Summary: EASTER LILY – The name applied originally to the white-flowered Asiatic species Lilium longiflorum, a tender variety developed and grown commercially first in Bermuda. Today the term commonly applies to many forms of tender white-flowered lilies forced for Easter bloom.

Question: I have a small greenhouse and would like to know at what time of year to plant bulbs of Easter lilies, daffodils, and hyacinths to have them flower for Easter. Please let me have some information on culture too. MW, Conn

Answer: Potted bulbs grow well in a soil mixture of 3 parts loam, 1 part each of leaf-mold and sand. Add a cupful of bone-meal to each half bushel of this mixture. I used a bagged potting mix but I know how come like to make their own soil. By the way… read my article on Finding A Second Bloom with Your Easter Lily.

Daffodils should be potted in October. Hyacinths for Easter flowering are best potted in mid-November. Water the potted bulbs thoroughly and store them in a cold place, preferably just above freezing, such as a cold basement or a trench outdoors where water will not gather. Two to four inches of sand over the soil in the trench will make it easier to dig the pots out later, and a mulch of the same depth of leaves should be added if frost is likely to go deep.

About four weeks before Easter, bring the pots indoors into a temperature of 50 degrees. Sometimes the growth has to be speeded up with extra heat, sometimes held back by a cooler temperature to make them flower on time.

Lilies take about 18 weeks from the time of potting. Keep them at 50 degrees to start them, then as growth proceeds, raise the temperature to 60 degrees or more according to the progress they make. Much depends on the amount of sun in February and whether Easter is early or late.

Question: Last spring I set an Easter Lily in the garden after blooming. In August it produced three stalks with 12 blooms in all. Should I leave the bulb in the ground and protect it or pot it and treat like an amaryllis? – JF, Seaside Heights, NJ

Answer: The Easter Lily is not reliably hardy in your locality but I would be inclined to leave it in the ground and put a good covering of litter over it for the winter. If lifted and potted it could not be expected to flower well again soon.

Question: Will you tell me how to care for an Easter lily after it has finished blooming? Florida

Answer: Most Easter lilies are hardy outdoors. Therefore, your plant may be removed from its pot and planted eight inches deep in the garden. It will appear next spring and grow and bloom like any other hardy lily. However, do not try to force this same bulb again.

Here is an article on Growing Lilies in Florida which may help.

Question: I buy eight or ten Easter lilies in bloom to decorate our church and after they have finished blooming, I set them out in the ground without their pots. They usually send up new shoots and by September often have small buds but these are usually killed by frost. If I dig up the plants in fall and plant them in pots again, would they bloom for Easter the following year? I could keep them in the basement, which has one window and stays warm. GH, CA

Answer: Lily bulbs that are forced into bloom for Easter are not likely to be of value for pot culture but in some cases they will flower when planted in the garden. For Easter it is best to rely upon new, specially grown bulbs.

Question: An Easter lily that bloomed last February was cut back later to about 2 inches from the bulb which seems to be dead. But there are some bulblets around it. How do I take care of them? – AR, Edgewater, Wis.

Answer: Where the Easter lily is not hardy outdoors, it is doubtful that the bulblets would make flowering bulbs if grown in pots. If you care to try it just for the fun, I would suggest placing several in a pot of fresh soil and them in a cool place (40 to 50 degrees) until spring.

Then, plant them outdoors until early frost and lift the bulbs and store in sand in a cool place until planting time again outdoors. If one blooms the next year, keep it growing after the flowers have faded. Plant it outside when frost has finished and it might bloom again in late summer.

Related Articles Of Interest:

• Setting Out Water Lilies
• Lily-of-the-Valley – Answers To Readers Questions
• Peruvian Daffodils – Winter Care, Buds Not Opening And More FAQs
• Question and Answers on Amaryllis, Sprekelia and Lycoris Care?