Easter Lilies

Easter lilies (Lilium longifolium) are unarguably, the most popular plant this time of year.  The home stores, grocery stores, and even gas stations have had racks of lilies in various stages of bloom for the past few weeks. 

Getting the most enjoyment out of an Easter lily begins with the selection process.  It's tempting to choose one whose bright white, trumpet like flowers are open in their full glory.  If your lily is for "right now" enjoyment, that is a good way to go.  If you are looking for a longer term commitment from your lily, choose one that has buds in various stages of development, from tight bud to partially open flower.  Look for a plant with dark green leaves the entire length of the stem and and a plant that is about twice as tall as the pot in which it is planted.  A lily planted in a pot too small is likely to be stressed, even if the foliage and flowers are not yet showing signs of it.  Inspect the leaves and stems carefully for eggs, webbing, bugs, or chewed leaves, all signs of insect infestation.  Look also for signs of disease, such as dark spots, crinkling or wilting of the leaves.  Leaves that are beginning to yellow are often signs of stress from being kept in too cool or too dark storage for too long and may affect the long term health of your plant, including keeping buds that are partially formed from completing their life cycle.

Once your Easter lily is home, place it in a spot with bright, indirect light and free from drafts.  If you can keep temperatures around 60 to 65 degrees, the blossoms will last longer.  Another way to extend the life of each bloom is to remove the anthers with the yellow pollen on the ends as soon as the flower opens.  Removing them will also keep the pollen from dropping on your furniture or getting on your clothes and causing staining.  And I can tell you from first hand experience that lily pollen is one of the best permanent clothing dyes you can find - especially if you don't want it on your clothes or table clothes.  :) 

Water the lily when it becomes dry to touch and don't ever allow it to get overly dry.  If the pot is in a decorative foil cover, make sure water does not stand in the foil.  Either remove the foil completely, punch holes in the bottom of the foil to allow drainage, or remove the foil and empty the water from it after each watering.

Remove all flowers as they wither to keep your plant healthy and looking nice.  This will also help extend the life of the other blooms as the plant won't be trying to put energy into seed pod development on the spent stems.

Easter lilies grow from bulbs and they can be saved and re-bloomed from year to year.  They are hardy outdoors to zone 4, so even as far north as North Dakota, they can be planted in the garden just like other lilies.  Their natural bloom time is June to July, so you'll never have an "Easter" lily grown that way, but you will have a beautiful, snow white lily growing amongst your other lilies.

All parts of the Easter lily are toxic to animals, especially cats.  Ingesting of any part of the plant can cause kidney failure and death.  Most animals are savvy enough to know not to eat things that will kill them, but if your Fido or Garfield find green stuff irresistible, you may want to reconsider bringing an Easter lily home, or at least keep it in a room where your pets can't get to it.

In honor of Easter (and because I will be busy with sunrise services at church and Easter brunch), there won't be a new blog posting tomorrow.  Happy Easter to all of you!