Cultural Instructions for Lilies 
Soils and Location: Lilies must have perfect drain- 
age such as a gentle slope can provide. Air drainage 
too is important, for a good breeze can keep many 
garden pests and diseases away. If your site is level 
and the soil heavy, then prepare raised beds for the 
bulbs. Take care not to damage the roots in planting. 
Sun or Shade: Lilies need sunlight, at least until 
2 P.M. Filtered sunlight or semi-shade may bring 
out the more delicate colors, but they tend to make 
weak stems and soft flowers. Do not plant near 
house walls, walks or drives that reflect sunlight or 
heat. 
Depth of Planting: L. candidum, “Cascade Strain” 
and “White Elf” should be planted with not more 
than one inch of settled soil over the top of the 
bulbs. All others need not more than four inches 
of soil over them. 
Mulch and Groundcover: Lilies are gross feeders 
and root deeply. They need a porous, well-aerated 
soil, rich in humus and well-balanced plant food. 
They like a good mulch of well-rotted cow manure, 
rich compost or decaying leafmold, and this can be 
applied several times during the growing season. 
The mulch keeps the soil cool, discourages weed 
growth and eliminates the need for surface cultiva- 
tion which might hurt the stem roots. Shallow- 
rooted ground cover keeps the grounded shaded and 
is beneficial. Do not expect your lilies to compete 
with strong-growing perennials or shrubs. 
Cutting Flowers: Like all plants, lilies need their 
stems and foliage to build for next year’s growth. 
Cutting the flowers only, preventing them from 
setting seed, is beneficial. Cutting the foliage is 
harmful in direct proportion to the amount taken. 
Cutting stems with foliage year after year will deti- 
nitely kill the plant. 
Fertilizers: Natural fertilizers, such as well-rotted 
cow manure, are ideal. A handful of balanced fer- 
tilizer scattered over every few feet, a pound of wood 
ashes per every twenty square feet, and such appli- 
cations repeated two or three times during the 
growing season, will help to keep the lilies strong 
and healthy. If your soil and water are alkaline, 
then two or three times during the growing season 
scatter a pinch or two of agricultural sulphur over 
the surface and water it in. Peat moss, being slightly 
acid, is good for lilies. It provides an ideal medium 
for the stem roots when used as a mulch. 
On Arrival: Lily bulbs are never completely dor- 
mant. They must be received as soon as possible 
after digging, hence orders should be placed with 
your dealer as early as possible. If slightly limp after 
their long trip, place them in wet peat moss for a 
few days. They will soon freshen up and should 
then be planted immediately. Never plant new 
bulbs where other lilies have failed to grow and 
never plant in heavy, soggy soil. They cannot be 
treated like tulip or daffodil bulbs which can be 
dried out and go completely dormant. Drainage is 
paramount. 
Pot Culture: The soil mixture must be loose and 
porous. Two parts sandy loam, one of leafmold, and 
one of sand is good. An inch of gravel should be 
placed in the bottom for drainage. Fill the pot half 
full of soil mix, add a handful of sand, set the bulb 
on the sand, then surround with more sand. The 
pot is then filled with soil mix, watered, labeled, 
staked and placed in a cool place until spring. 
Spraying: Control aphids and fungus diseases with 
the same sprays used for roses. 
Forcing: The quality of the flowers and plants is 
much improved by cold storage of the bulbs and 
the flower yield is greatest following storage for six 
weeks at a temperature between 32 and 40 degrees 
Fahrenheit. Experiments hav shown that our Mid- 
Century Lilies when forced without cold storage 
flowered by the end of March, those cold storaged 
for six weeks flowered by the middle of February. 
The average elapsed time between planting of bulbs 
taken from cold storage and flowering was 60 days. 
A night temperature of 55 to 60 degrees is recom- 
mended, with ample water as the buds begin to show. 
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