Easter Lilies

With Easter coming soon, many people will have Easter lilies in their homes. Even if you do not celebrate Easter, you should get an Easter lily. They make nice houseplants and can be planted in a perennial garden later. They also have a nice fragrance that is not as overpowering as some indoor bulbs.

The Easter lily is native to southern Japan, and prior to World War II the bulbs were imported from there. Today, more than between 95 percent of all Easter lily bulbs are produced on just ten farms along the Pacific coast in a half-mile wide and twelve-mile long strip of land on the California and Oregon border. Most of the bulbs are the Nellie White variety that James White named after his wife. Every few years, each grower selects a few plants to determine if a new variety can be developed with desirable production qualities.

Despite only having a two-week moving sales window related to the date on which Easter falls, they are the fourth-largest potted plant crop, behind poinsettias, mums and azaleas. Even though we see them for such a short time, they require year round production work to produce. Each bulb takes two, three or even four years to grow large enough for sale. Greenhouse growers work very hard, from before Christmas in many years, to get them to bloom on time.

When you purchase a lily, look for plants that have large unopened buds. Count the buds and get the one with as many flowers still not opened as you can. A single plant with six to eight buds is better than a two-bud stem. Sometimes there is more than one stem in a pot, but you should still be trying for at least six buds per stem.

By looking at several plants you can see the natural progression of how the flower buds open. If you are buying the plants a week or more before Easter, you will want more buds to be unopened. If you are buying the plant right before Easter, you will want more flowers already in bloom. You can buy several plants in various stages of bloom to get a longer-lasting effect.

An opened flower should last a week or longer before wilting. Any unopened buds that are starting to turn brown will fall off before blooming. To keep the flower white, it is a good idea to pinch off the yellow anthers as soon as the flower opens, so they do not drop pollen on the flower's petals. Removing the pollen will help the flower last longer too, since pollinated flowers fade quickly.

Check the leaves at the base of the stem. They should not be turning yellow and falling off. If the pot is wrapped in foil, peel it back and check to see the condition of the leaves. If the soil is either too dry or water logged, get a different plant. The flowers may not open on a plant that has been mistreated. If you are buying the plant on a day when the temperature is near freezing, keep the plant protected from the cold. Don't buy plants stored in a tall sleeve, as they tend to deteriorate quickly.

The lily will stay blooming longer if you keep the high temperature at about 70 degrees in the day and between 40 and 50 degrees at night. Warmer temperatures will speed the flowering process. Remove wilting flowers to keep the plant looking neat. If you are planting it outside after Easter, flower removal will help make the plant's food production go into enlarging the bulb and not producing seeds. They are not easy plants to get to re-bloom the following year when grown as a houseplant. They will rebloom easily if planted outdoors in hardiness zones three through seven.

Keep them in bright, indirect light until the outdoor nighttime temperatures stay above the 40 degrees. Plant them in a partially sunny site with well-drained soil about 6 inches deep and add a few inches of mulch. Next year, they will bloom in midsummer. They make a nice display when planted in masses. After Easter, go to the store and buy all of the ones they have left, even if they are no longer in bloom, and plant them outdoors.

In zones eight through ten, they can be planted outside for the summer. In the fall, dig them up and plant them in potting soil in a pot an inch wider than the bulb. Refrigerate the whole pot for eight to twelve weeks, keeping the soil damp. Take them out and leave them in the pot or replant in the ground.

If the lily has discolored flecks on the leaf that run lengthwise, it may have a virus that aphids can spread to other lilies in your garden, so do not plant that one in the garden.

With a little effort and care Easter Lilies and other spring flowers can make good additions to your garden.

Email questions to Jeff Rugg at [email protected]. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.