In case you missed it, last Sunday was Easter. You may not celebrate Easter, but you can still pick up an Easter lily at your local garden center. You can call it a spring lily if you want to. They are pretty, and for most people, they have a delightful fragrance. Keep them as a houseplant while the flowers last, and later you can plant them in the garden. The lily will stay blooming longer if you keep the high temperature at about 70 degrees in the day and in the 50-60 degree range at night. This week, you can probably pick up several for the price of what one sold for before Easter.

They are an easy perennial to grow in hardiness zones 3-7, which covers most of the country. With a little more care, they can be grown in zones 8-10, as I explain later in this article.

First, as the flowers die, cut them off. We especially don't want any seeds to grow, so cut off any flowers that look like they want to stay on the plant. Don't cut off too much of the top, as we want a lot of leaves left on the plant when it goes outdoors. More leaves means a bigger bulb that will produce more flowers next year.

Keep them in bright, indirect light until the outdoor nighttime temperatures stay above the 40s. Plant them in a partially sunny site with well-drained soil. Plant the bulb about 6 inches deep and cover the soil with a few inches of mulch. Since they are fragrant, plant them near a path or patio. Water as needed to keep them from wilting. In the fall, cut off the dead stalk when the leaves all turn yellow.

Next year, they will bloom in midsummer. They require a lot of temperature manipulations in greenhouses to get them to bloom at Easter, especially since the date of Easter changes each year. They make a nice display when planted in masses, so when you see some for sale, buy all of the ones they have left, even if they are no longer in bloom, and plant them outdoors.

Zones 8-10 don't get cold enough in the winter for the Easter lily bulb to go through a required dormancy. They can be planted outside in the garden for the summer, or they can be grown in flowerpots. They grow better in the soil if it is good garden soil. In the fall, cut the top off and dig them up. Plant them in potting soil in a pot an inch wider than the bulb. Refrigerate the whole pot for three months, keeping the soil damp. You can place the whole pot in a plastic bag to retain the moisture. After the required cold spell is over, take them out of cold storage and leave them in the pot or replant them in the ground.

When you are looking at the lilies for sale this week, watch out for discolored yellow flecks that run lengthwise on the leaf. That plant may have a virus that aphids can spread to other lilies in your garden, so do not plant that one in the garden. You can enjoy it as a flowering plant indoors until the flowers are finished, and then you can throw it away.

With a little effort and care, Easter lilies can make good additions to your garden.

Email questions to Jeff Rugg at [email protected]. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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