Luscious lilies for your garden pots or borders
Whether you’re a fan of scented or unscented, tall or short, subtle or bold colours, there’s a lily for everyone. We often get asked how to choose a lily so this is where you start
Choosing where to grow your lilies
Firstly, where would you like to grow lilies? In pots or in garden borders? Different lilies like different soil types. So, if you’re planning on planting in pots, then the world is your oyster when it comes to lily choice. You can choose any lily and just mix up the right soil.
Scent vs colour
This leads us to the next question, do you prefer to have gorgeous scent filling your garden during summer or are you hooked on having a garden bursting with vibrant colour?
If you’re the latter then the unscented Asiatic lilies are the winners when it comes to bold and beautiful colour. Asiatics vary from bright yellows and oranges to the deepest dark reds as well as two-toned lilies. But if it’s the perfume you just can’t resist, then the Oriental lilies are your best pick. Oriental lilies come in a palette of pinks, whites and even yellows. Some are amazingly decorative too.
If you’re happy to have either colour or scent, then you may want to ask yourself how tall you’d like your lilies to be? There are short varieties (known as pot lilies) in both Asiatic or Oriental, and you can even produce a spectacular display of tree-like lilies, which can reach an impressive height of 2m (7ft).
Planting in your garden
When it comes to planting lilies in your garden borders, you’ll need to know which soil type you have. Asiatic lilies prefer an alkaline soil and Oriental lilies prefer acidic soil. If you’re unsure of your soil type, then we advise planting in pots or opting for any of the hybrid lilies, such as the Oriental trumpets, Lilium longiflorum asiatics or L. longiflorum orientals.
Planting your lilies couldn’t be easier once you have chosen the right variety for you. Simply plant with the growing tip pointing upwards and the roots below and cover the top of the bulb with 10–15cm (4–6in) of soil.
Helpful tips for growing lilies
- If planting in pots, plant three bulbs in a 25–35cm (10–14in) diameter pot
- Lilies can tolerate very cold conditions but they don’t like to get wet, so add grit to your soil to ensure it’s free draining
- Most lilies prefer to be planted in a location with at least half a day’s full sunshine – if it’s too shady they’ll lean their stems towards the sun. Turk’s cap lilies (L. martagon) are the exception. These like their heads in the sun but their feet in the shade
- When the lily has finished flowering, cut back any seedheads and allow the foliage to die back naturally. Don’t be tempted to cut the stems back until they become hollow and brown, before this they’re still producing energy for the bulb
- Believe it or not, lilies like a cold dormant phase and like to be left where they are during winter – just ensure there’s adequate drainage so they can’t get waterlogged
Harts Nursery