Lilies can be grown either by planting the bulbs direct into the border soil or in large containers, in both cases the bulbs need to be planted with about 6 inches of soil above the bulbs. The plants should be kept reasonable moist at all times, while they will tolerate being dry for a short time, they hate being over watered.
After flowering you should continue to water the plants and stems should be allowed to die down naturally. The bulbs can then be either left undisturbed over winter or they can be dug up and stored in moist peat, at no time must they be allowed to dry out completely, or to become waterlogged.
For growing in containers we recommend either a Peat or Coir based compost, to which it is a good idea to add some Perlite and slow release fertiliser.
If you intend to grow Oriental hybrids you must use an ericaceous mix, for all other hybrids a general-purpose mix is fine.
For growing in the border you will need a soil rich in organic matter and ideally free draining, if you intend to plant Orientals it is also a good idea to check the p.H. As these will not grow if it is too high, 4.5 is ideal for these.
These are some of the easiest hybrids to grow, they are very hardy, available in a wide range of colours and are unscented. The bulbs multiply quickly and produce lots of Bulblets, they will grow in any good quality soil.
These need the same growing conditions as their Asiatic parents, again very hardy. The main difference between them and Asiatic's, is that the flowers tend to be bigger and some are perfumed.
True Longiflorum's all have white, scented flowers , these are dealt with in this section, while coloured forms, which are the result of cross breeding with other hybrids, are in the next section.
Longiflorum's tend to like a compost with a p.H. of about 5.5-6, they are easy to grow but tend to be shortlived, as they are not very hardy, probally best grow in large containers, so that they can be moved, into a cold greenhouse for the winter.
This is a new group of hybrids some have trumpet shaped flowers ie Triumphator others have flat flowers ie Gizmo, all have a very pleasant perfume. They are easy to grow and tolerate a wide range of soil conditions. Unlike their Longiflorum parents they tend to be very hardy and the bulbs multiply well.
Unlike most Lilies we find that varieties from this group grow best in a rather heavy loam based compost, they make excellent subjects for growing in light woodland and shady borders, as a rule the hybrids are easier to grow than the true species.
These hybrids are the result of very complex crosses using not only Oriental and Trumpet varieties, but also Aurelians and L. Henryi.
They are easy to grow, tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions and all are highly scented. The bulbs tend to grow very large and multiply slowly, most produce very few bulblets. They are much easier to grow than their Oriental parents.
Many people consider these to be among the most beautiful of all hybrids, but they are impossible to grow if the compost /soil has a high p.H. 4.5 is ideal, anything above 6 is too high.
For this reason they are mostly grown in containers filled with ericaceous compost. The bulbs are hardy, but multiply slowly and they dislike being too wet in the winter. All are highly scented.
These are clump forming lilies which grow from brittle, rhizome like bulbs, those related to L.pardalinum prefer a loam based soil, while others such as L.parryi need ericaceous conditions.
If you need any additional advice please post your query on the Lily Forum .
Last Updated: Sun Feb 28 2010