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How to Grow and Care for an Easter Lily

Raksha Kulkarni
Easter lilies are often seen in Churches or given as gifts during Easter and the Holy week. Do you want to plant these beauties in your garden too? Or are you wondering how to replant the gift you’ve got on Easter? Here’s a simple guide of how you can choose and take care of your Easter lily plant.

What is an Easter Lily?

Easter Lilies (Lilium longiflorum) are white trumpet-shaped flowers with outward-leaning petals. These fragrant flowers are endemic to Taiwan & Ryukyu Islands in Japan. In the past century, the lily bulbs were imported to America from Japan. These plants have been cultivated in the American region since then.

Easter Lily Plant Information

  • The Easter lily plant can grow from 20 in to 3 ft tall.
  • The cylindrical-shaped stems are 2 inches in diameter and 24 to 36 inches tall.
  • The leaves are dark green in color and 5-8 inches long.
  • The white flowers are 5 to 7 inches long. These fragrant flowers naturally bloom in July and August but are ‘forced’ to bloom early in Easter time.

Making the right choice!

  • Firstly, do not buy a plant that is already in full bloom. Always choose a plant that portrays different stages from a bud to a flower.
  • Check for signs of any disease or insects like dark spots, chewed leaves, and bugs or their eggs.
  • Lastly, check the foliage. It should be healthy and uniformly green all over.

Taking care of a potted Easter Lily plant

Firstly, free the plant from its decorative packaging immediately, as it can ruin the roots from water-logging inside it.

If there are any full bloom flowers in the plant, remove the anthers from the center. The removal helps in increasing the lifespan and preventing the petals from getting stained by the pollen.
  • Keep the pot in a bright spot where there isn’t much of direct sunlight. Also, keep the pot away from areas having excess dry air or heat from appliances, etc.
  • Make sure that the room temperature remains between 15-21 C.
  • The plant doesn't need much water so water it only when the soil is dry to the touch.
  • Lastly, cut withering petals and flowers time to time.

Re-plantation in your garden

  • Firstly, always prefer growing the lily in the pot itself until the last frost. This minimizes the chances of the plant dying in the first year itself.

  • The plant needs a spot where it gets indirect but bright sunlight and where the soil is rich and well drained. Any type of soil having pH from 5.5 to 6.5, except heavy clay is suitable for this plant.
  • Consider the fact that it can grow a max height of 3 ft, while choosing the spot. Later, plant the bulb at around 3 inches below the ground. Keep watering just to keep the soil moist.

  • In the winter, add a layer of mulch to prevent the bulb from freezing. Fertilize the bulb or add blood meal to the soil in the fall.
  • Remember that lilies need to have their heads in the sunlight and their feet in the shade.
  • Keep cutting withering or brown leaves and stems at regular intervals.
  • Continue doing this for more than a year because the plant doesn't bloom until the second year from re-plantation.
  • The only aim is to let the foliage grow healthy until it's ready to bloom.
Easter Lilies are regarded as a symbol of spirituality, purity, innocence, virtue, life, and hope. Even if these beauties look perfect, there is one dangerous aspect to them. These flowers are proven to be toxic for cats. Even a little ingestion of the pollen can cause severe illness like kidney damage in cats.