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Busy Lizzie Accent Mixed F1
Busy Lizzie Accent Mixed F1
72 plugs + 12 Free  £8.99

Fuchsia Lady Boothby
Fuchsia Lady Boothby
- world's only climbing Fuchsia - 3 plants £6.49

Fuchsia Hardy Collection A (Army Nurse, Delta's Sarah & Shrimp Cocktail)
Fuchsia Hardy Collection 12 plants 4, of each for £11.98

Petunia Tidal Wave
Petunia Tidal Wave climbing Petunia
42 plug plants £16.35

Lily Oriental Stargazer
Lily Oriental Stargazer
- ideal for containers - 6 bulbs £6.49

Geranium T&M's Jackpot F1
Geranium T&M's Jackpot F1
- 25 plugs £6.99

Begonia Cascading Apricot Shades F1
Begonia Cascading Apricot Shades F1
2½ to 4 inch, mostly double blooms, 5 plants £9.99, 35 plugs +19 FREE £12.99

Busy Lizzie 'Blue Sky'™ (PBR applied for)
Busy Lizzie 'Blue Sky'™

Brand new - Impatiens 'Blue Sky'™ is the world's first multi-flowering, blue Busy Lizzie.
3 plants - now half price £9.99

 

Lilies

Bulbs for sale on this page will be delivered in November February depending on variety
Scented Lilies - Lilies for Borders - Lilies for Containers - Lilies for Cut Flowers
Black Magic Selection - Yellow Lilies - White Lilies - Pink and Red Lilies

Lily regaleLily regale  A garden favourite, very easy to grow. Perfect for growing en-masse in the border. Tough and easy.
5 premium bulbs £6.99, 10 for £12.99

Other plant pages: Plants home | Lilies |  Architectural plants | Burglar - proof | Conifers | Clematis | Climbers | Dry shade | Fast-growing plants | Foolproof plants | Grasses | Hardy geraniums | Hedges and hedging plants | Herbs | Spring bulbs and winter shrubs | Trees | Trees Jan-June interest | Trees July-Dec interest | Waterlogged soilPlants Q & A. | Spring collection

Buy plants online A-Z list

Landscapers palette: perennials | shrubs | trees | climbers | ground cover

Lily Casablanca from below meets white Surfinia Petunia in a basket from above

Lilies almost define gardening for me and why I bother with it. Mainly I like the infinite shades of green that my garden provides and I'd rather have a shapely and elegant foliage plant than one that flowers but is fussy with it.

Lilies are the exception that proves (as in tests) the rule. I like big plants, big leaves and big flowers, I like show-offs that can carry it off. If someone shouts "Look at me, look at me" I expect them to be worth looking at at.

Lilies are all of that and more - they are botanical show-offs par excellence. They force you to look - and if you aren't looking, they get your attention by their fragrance until you turn to see (although they aren't all fragrant).

Huge showy flowers with big wobbly anthers and an erect stigma in autotrophic sexual role reversal, they are the flowers that you will show off to your friends more than any others (and get the most compliments for) and be the ones you just have to go and see more often than any others in your garden - I like lilies!

Even lily buds are impressive, more impressive than many opened flowers. If you've only ever bought these from the florist or supermarket, then grow your own and not only will you have the perfumed beauty on your doorstep or patio, but you'll be more pleased than with anything you've ever grown.

Lilies are best grown in many places in containers. They can be grown in the ground in borders, but they need to be molly coddled a bit - less likely to happen in the border than in a container. If you supply a position where the roots are in moist shade and the top growth is in the sun then they'll do well, but realistically such positions are rare - if you do have such a thing however - promise me you'll grow lilies in it.

Containers can either be single variety and removed from main display when the flowers are over, or they can be under planted with bedding plants to provide lasting interest in more permanent planting positions. I have lilies in permanent large containers either side of the front door, they are under planted in the summer with Surfinia Petunias and Lobelia and/or above with annual Morning Glory. In either case, they have hanging baskets above them that trail downwards to meet the lilies as they grow upwards. The end result is that the lily foliage can be left to grow on and all so importantly supply the bulbs with the nutrients to provide next years flowers.

If grown in containers, lilies can left in place from season to season. They start to bud and grow in mid to late spring and flower from mid summer onwards. The taller varieties should be supported with canes or similar as the flowers are so large and heavy they will bend the stems over, especially when heavy with rainwater - so support them before any buds have appeared.

When the flowers are over, snap them off just behind where they are trying to make seeds so the energy doesn't go to where you don't want it. The leaves should then be left to fill the bulbs with nutrients to power next years flowers.

Size matters - buy the biggest bulbs you can afford. The biggest bulbs will produce the biggest flowers and the most flowers. If you look after the plants after flowering and feed them ready for next year, they will build themselves up all the better to produce more and bigger flowers next year too.

I grow lilies in containers rather than in the border as I don't have the required moist position with heads in the sun and roots in the shade, any lilies I have planted in the soil just get smaller every year until they eventually stop coming up all together.

Permanent containers are a good place to have some lily bulbs, I have two very large pots (about 2 foot cubes) either side of the front door, one has a Phormium in and the other is constantly re-planted with seasonal plants. One of the containers has several by now large and majestic white lilies that live there permanently.

As the containers are so large they allow me to add other smaller bedding plants to go with the seasons. pansies in the autumn to spring and Lobelia and Petunias in the summer. One even has Morning Glory planted in them as a summer annuals to grow up and around the door after the Clematis and scented rose have done their thing in late spring / early summer.

I also grow lilies in large mobile containers (black 10L plant pots with reed matting tacked onto them with a heavy duty staple gun). These are permanently in containers, but the containers are shifted around. As they start to bud and flower I move them to a place of maximum prominence. As the flowers die and the foliage needs growing on to fill the bulb with goodies for next year, I put them somewhere less obvious - this can even be in a gap in a border if you have no-where else, just remember to water and feed them until the foliage starts to die down.

Cardiocrinum giganteum - Giant Himalayan Lily
Cardicrinum giganticum
- Giant Himalayan Lily
Spectacular stems crowned with highly fragrant, waxy blooms, sometimes up to 50 per stem. Perfect for a shady, sheltered border.  Up to 12 feet tall! - you know you want one! flowers once only, offsets can be grown on to flower in 4-5 years.
£17.99

Lily Care

Plant - In containers, or borders with moist soil that has plenty of organic matter. The ideal position is with the top growth in full sun and the roots in shade. Semi-shade is usually tolerated well as long as there is at least a few hours of each day in the sun, deep shade is not tolerated.

Depth - at a depth of 2 -3 times height of the bulb, leave a space between bulbs of about 3 times the bulb diameter, the same applies in the soil or in containers.

Cultivation - after flowering, remove seed heads so not to waste resources, water once with double strength liquid fertiliser, plenty of it to reach the bulbs and roots.

Leave leaves to die down naturally - don't cut the leaves or otherwise damage them in any way, this is when the bulb is built up again for next years flowers, any interference will stop this and give smaller, weaker or blind flowering. Leave at least 6 weeks for the leaves to do their job, if possible don't touch them at all until they are completely brown and shrivelled and can be pulled up with little resistance. If the whole of the leaves and stem are brown and dead but won't be pulled up easily, then cut off at 2-3" above soil level with secateurs.

Support is often necessary for varieties that grow above about 2 feet - if yours are this tall and the buds still small, then support them sooner rather than later, the tall large flowered varieties can become very top heavy, especially after rain which weighs the flowers down.

Lilies will often develop larger and larger bulbs each year if they are looked after which will reward you by producing more and more impressive displays.

Pests - Aphids are a common pest which are relatively easily dealt with by a systemic insecticide.

Scarlet lily beetle with characteristic damage on lily leavesLily beetle (aka scarlet lily beetle) can be a major problem, but the vigilant gardener can often deal with these fairly simply by picking them off and squashing them underfoot, they are more prevalent in the South of the country. They appear from about March-April onwards through to the autumn and are very obvious as bright shiny scarlet beetles 6-8mm in length (quite handsome really).

Both the adults and the reddish/brown grubs feed on lily leaves leaving holes in their wake. Heavy infestations are best dealt with by a systemic insecticide "smart-bomb" spray, you could also spray follow finding some like I have in the picture here as there are likely to be some that you have missed and/or some larvae around. The beetles tend to stay on the underside of leaves, so I look for them by getting down low and looking upwards through the plant, their colour makes it easy to find them fortunately! If you're organic, then you may feel more noble, but probably won't have such impressive lilies - my line is drawn on the lily-side of the contest.

Lilies to buy

Patio Lilies - For large pots and containers

Oriental Lilies - Highly fragrant

Trumpet and Turks Cap Lilies - Exotic and maximum impact, for containers or the soil

The Asiatics -  Less scented, but a riot of colour

Pollen-free Lilies - even allergy sufferers can now enjoy lilies, for containers or the border

Super Lilies -  recent oriental breakthroughs of colour and/ or scent

The Rare and Unusual - Species collection, selected to be the easiest to grow

Other Lilies -  Lily by name, but quite botanically lilies, great plants nonetheless

Scented Lilies - Lilies for Borders - Lilies for Containers - Lilies for Cut Flowers - Black Magic Selection - Yellow Lilies - White Lilies - Pink and Red Lilies -

Lily the pink


Q. I bought four Asiatic lilies and transplanted them in the spring. They bloomed fine but then when summer started the petals fell off. Will the flowers bloom again this summer?

A. Lilies only flower once a year, you need to look after them still though so that the leaves can fill the bulb with energy for next years flowers.
 

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Last  updated 15 February 2008     Copyright © Paul Ward 2000 - 2008