Buying and Planting Lilies

Spring is one of the two times a year to buy lilies. (The other is fall.) Lilies need to be purchased as close to planting time as possible, because lilies, unlike other bulbs, only go dormant for a very brief period. The bulb is round or egg shaped, 2 to 6 inches in diameter; it has no outer skin covering its overlapping scales which are actually modified, underground leaves. The lily bulb will have fleshy, somewhat fragile roots attached so it will need careful handling to avoid breakage and drying out.

Although lily bulbs are available in garden centres across North America, usually in plastic sacks packed in peat moss or wood shavings, Edward McRae of Cebeco Lilies Inc. warns that these are frequently stored in warm areas where sprouting rapidly occurs. That's why when you look at these packages, you so often see sprouts winding their way to the top of the sack and, perhaps, emerging from a hole near the top. If the package of lily bulbs looks like this, don't buy it! According to Edward McRae, a one inch sprout is the maximum allowed. You want bulbs that are solid and firm with good roots at their base. The sprout should be just starting to develop.

If you're buying your lily bulbs at a garden centre, you also need to avoid bulbs that are dried out. Buying bulbs from a local grower is best, if possible. I've also had excellent luck ordering bulbs from nurseries; if you go this route, be sure, as I always am, that you're dealing with a top-of-the-line grower with a no-questions-asked guarantee. If you order from growers who specialize in lilies and other bulbs, you'll have a much larger selection of cultivars to choose from. The Lily Nook is one such specialty grower I recommend. The Strohmans grow over 1500 names varieties at their nursery in Neepawa, Manitoba. Several lilies hybridized by Barrie Strohman have been named and registered with the Royal Horticultural Society in England, and The Lily Nook is a test site for new material sponsored by the Manitoba Regional Lily Society, the Morden research station and Jeffries Nurseries. They ship pre-cooled bulbs April 7 through May 15th for spring planting.

If you're interested in growing lilies from seed, you can do that, too; this is relatively easy, according to Barrie Strohman at The Lily Nook , but you'll need to be aware that only species come true to form and it takes from two to eight years to bloom time. (I don't mind waiting two years for a plant that's so sensational, but eight!) Lilies can also be grown true to type from bulbils, scales, and offsets.

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