Keep the lily beyond Easter

OK, now that Easter is over with, a question remains.

What do I do with the Easter lily Aunt Blanch gave me? Or, what do we do with those lilies that were given to the church?

Prior to World War 1, Easter lilies — also known as Bermuda lilies — were produced and exported from Bermuda and from Japan. The plant is a native of Japan and, until Pearl Harbor, the Japanese were the world’s biggest producers of this flower.

At the end of WWI a soldier from the coastal region of southern Oregon came home with a suitcase filed with the lily bulbs. He started growing them and since his friends, neighbors and family seemed to like them, he started giving the plants as gifts.

Soon, there were a lot of people growing these flowers. Some were selling them in limited quantities. After the start of World War II, the Japanese lilies were no longer available so the growers in Oregon and now, Northern California, had an expanding market for their plants. At one time there were 1,200 growers producing Easter lilies on the Pacific coast. The number of growers has declined to about a dozen now but they produce 95 percent of the potted Easter lilies sold worldwide. Upwards of 14 million of these plants are grown in a small area on the California-Oregon state line and the odds are pretty good that our lilies came from there.

So, how do we continue to enjoy these potted plants and can we keep them through the year? First thing, remove those yellow anthers in the middle of the flower; these are the male flower part that produces pollen. Removing the anthers will help the flower to last longer and you will not get that yellow powder sticking to the flowers — or to whatever brushes up against them.

Second, keep the plant in a brightly lit location. It will last longer if it is not in direct sunlight. Keep the soil moist. To see if water is needed simply stick your finger in the soil to about the second knuckle, and as long as the soil is moist the plant is doing okay. Remove each flower as it begins to fade to keep the plant attractive. If you want to keep it as a potted plant you may need to move it to a larger container.

As soon as the weather is warm enough and there is no longer any chance of a frost — usually about the second week of May for this area — the lily can be planted in the soil outdoors. Also, wait until the blooms have faded and been removed. Keep the foliage intact. The plant will need its leaves to produce its food through photosynthesis. This food will help the plant to establish itself in the garden and will allow the lily to store some energy for the next year’s growth.

Remember this plant is normally a summer flowering perennial. It was forced to bloom in a greenhouse to make it an appropriate plant to sell for Easter. It will revert back to the schedule it is supposed to keep in the next year. It may bloom again, but probably not this year.

When planting the Easter lily, keep the stem and leaves intact and plant it deep enough so that the top of the bulb is about 6 inches below the soil surface. Water well to settle the soil around the bulb, and keep the soil moist for the rest of the growing season. Do not over water as this will cause the bulb to rot. When the leaves turn brown in the fall, cut it back to about 3 inches. The bulb should be covered with a thick layer of much for insulation in the winter. The mulch should be taken down to about 2 inches when it is time for the plant to grow in the spring. A balanced plant food can be applied to the soil to help with the flowering, apply this when the first green shoots appear.

It’s pretty simple really. Enjoy your garden.