Growing Easter Lilies in my Garden

I’m growing Easter lilies in my garden.

Easter lilies are irresistible, especially for children. When my daughter Laura was four years old, we were shopping for groceries a few days before Easter. Laura spied the foil-wrapped pots of Easter lilies with blooms just opening and ran over to take a look, and do what you do when you’re a kid and you see a pretty bloom: stick your nose in it.

She came running back to me with saffron-colored streaks of pollen on her sweet face, excited to tell me how they smelled. So precious.

How to Plant Easter Lilies in Your Garden

Easter lilies (Lilium longiflorum) are a type of Asiatic lily that grow 2 to 3 feet in height in full sun gardens. The bulbs and finished plants sold in spring are grown primarily in Oregon and California. If you’re interested in the history of Easter lilies, check out this story in Southern Living. Briefly, they’re called Easter lilies because of when they bloom and heaped with a fair share of Christian symbolism.

In the story, Southern Living garden editor Steve Bender writes that he plants gifted Easter lilies in his garden. And I do the same in zone 8A metro Atlanta garden.

The bulbs are hardy in zones 6 to 11, so I’m not on the hardiness fringe. To give potted Easter lilies the best start, follow these steps.

• Trim back the flowering stalk.
• Place in a full sun garden space in rich, well-draining soil.
• Amend garden soil with compost and a bulb fertilizer (look for N-P-K ratio with a higher phosphorus number, like 3-5-3 or 5-10-10).
• Plant bulb about 8 inches deep and cover with soil.
• Top with a generous blanket of mulch.
• In spring, you may need to stake emerging stalks.
• In summer, trim brown foliage but leave a few inches above the soil line so you’ll remember the bulbs.

Remember, don’t throw out those Easter lilies when they’re finished blooming! Put them in the ground and enjoy them next year.

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