Planting lilies in containers

Lilies make excellent pot plants. They can be grown in pots to full bloom, or they can be started early indoors and set out when the weather warms up. The following steps will help you grow healthy potted lilies.

Low-growing, early-blooming varieties, such as the "Mid-Century" hybrids 'Enchantment' and 'Cinnabar', are best. In recent years many new varieties, having a wide range of colours, have been developed. Some of these are 'Connecticut King' and 'Connecticut Lemon Glow'. 'Red Carpet' is a fine, low-growing, spotless red lily that is hardy and easy to force at almost any time of year.

Bulbs available in the fall can be potted and put into a cold frame for two or three months and then brought indoors for forcing. Pre-cooled bulbs are available from some lily dealers; these are ready to be started at any time.

If you want good results in midwinter, supplementary light may be needed. Lily bulbs that are purchased in the spring should be potted immediately.

1. Use a 12 centimetre (4 3/4 inch) pot for a small to medium bulb, a 20 to 25 centimetre (eight to 10 inch) pot for a large bulb.
2. Put drainage material in the bottom and over the hole. The soil mixture should consist of one part coarse sand or perlite, one part peat moss, and one part good garden soil, well mixed together.
3. Water well upon planting. Thereafter, keep the soil barely moist until the lily is in active growth (to avoid bulb rot).
4. Daytime temperatures should not exceed 20°C (70°F), nor night temperatures fall lower than 4°C (40°F).

Feed the plants every second week until the flowers have completed their blooming cycle. Afterward, plants grown indoors can be planted in the garden or kept in the same pots for another year. In either case, the foliage should be allowed to mature and turn yellow in order to nourish the bulb.

• For good results the second season, keep bulbs in a protected cold frame over the winter or buried in the ground in a sheltered location.
• Lilies can be grown in large containers outdoors.
• Plant them in the soil recommended for pots, and give them regular garden care.
• They also make stunning additions to a patio garden and are inexpensive enough to discard in the fall if you have no garden to plant them in.