Are Lilies Right for Your Garden?

Lilies are an easy to grow, vibrant addition to your garden. Choosing a mixture of early, mid-season, and late-blooming lilies, you can have fresh flowers from June through September. These resilient bulbs do not take much care. Each can grow into a large cluster of blooming stems.

Many flowers have "lily" as part of their name (like daylily or peace lily) are not really lilies. Real lilies belong to the genus Lilium. They come from bulbs. Real lilies have rigid stems with thin band-like leaves. Huge, flashy flowers develop at the tip of each stem. These flowers may be trumpet-shaped, bowl shaped, or bell shaped with relaxed petals. They dip down, face outwards, or turn upwards and they come in a variety of colors.

Asiatic and Oriental lilies are the two most popular of lilies. Asiatic lilies are the easiest to grow. They are hardy and do not need staking. Oriental lilies have become well-liked due to the big blooms and heavy fragrance. They can grow well in many places.

When selecting your lilies, think about plant height, season you want blooms, as well as colors you would like to have. Make a point of visiting gardens where plants are shown. It will be easier to decide which lilies are for your garden after seeing them in bloom somewhere else and you can ask questions of the grower. This should be all you should need to make a wise choice in selecting the right lilies for your garden.