Lilies, potted in September and October made a terrific show of color in our greenhouse last year. For a number of years, we have grown the usual varieties of Lilium longiflorum along with some of the hardies like auratum and regal. But it wasn’t until we added some of the newer hybrids to the old favorites that we realized what an exciting selection in form and color this crop has to offer. It was also pleasant to find how well the newer kinds responded to our usual methods of growing lilies in the small greenhouse.
Lilium auratum, the fragrant gold band lily, which is pure white with a yellow center, and L. rubrum, the speckled lily are the most magnificent of all.
Read ==>> How To Grow Potted Lilies
Lilium regale with its sweet-scented ivory-white trumpets has always been a joy in the greenhouse, too, but it was many of the new Hybrids that put the splash of color in the display, with rich yellows, oranges, and reds. They seemed all the more colorful against the whites, which I shall always grow for contrast.
Of all the hybrids we have grown, the deeper shades are my favorites. I particularly like the upright, fiery Indian red flowers and the mahogany red bloomers; a golden yellow that flowers later; and an old variety my mother grew called Pagoda, a chrome-orange with lots of well shaped blooms. But whichever you choose you’ll have variation to your planting.
Lily bulbs are never really dormant and should be potted as soon as they arrive. September and October are good months to start, although the auratums and regals are better put in during August, for these lilies take 16 to 18 weeks from planting to bloom for the best development.
Of course, if you can beg some pre-cooled bulbs from your florist or have a means of storing them for five weeks at 31 to 40 degrees, they will come into bloom much earlier. You could wait until October or November to put Croft types lilies for blooms by late February and March, the newer hybrids should go in during late September or early October.
All lilies do well for us in the same loose soil mixture of two parts loam composted with one part decayed manure. If we use the loam as it comes out of the garden, we also have to add some sand because the loam is naturally quite heavy. The bulbs are planted one to a 6-inch pot, watered well and placed in a coldframe to form roots.
Bulbs that are to be grown in a greenhouse should not be permitted to freeze (especially the tender kind). We cover them with a light mulch and bring them into the greenhouse before deep freezing occurs, which for us at in New York, is about Christmas.
The pots are placed under the bench until leaf buds appear and they are then brought up into the sunshine. If extra long stems are wanted, the plants may be left in the shade for a longer period.
Liquid Feedings
Feedings every two weeks with ammonium sulphate or nitrate of soda mixed 1 tablespoon to a gallon of water should be given when the growth is about 4 inches high, for if the soil is acid and not fertilized there is danger of leaf burn. When the plants are tall, this fertilizer should be strengthened with a tablespoon of soluble 5-10-5 applied about 1/2 pint to each plant.
After the lilies have bloomed I have found it best to knock the bulbs out of the pots and set them in the garden in the spring as soon as weather permits. Here many will flower again in July or August.
We’ve found it never pays to force these bulbs in the greenhouse the second year. No matter what you do, they seem to become infested with mosaic.
by C Ernest – 63495
