Asiatic lilies: planting and care

Description of Asiatic lily

These are beautiful flowers with a huge variety of colors and lush blooms. Truly these are plants from the Garden of Eden. Of all the lilies, gardeners value them for their unpretentiousness, and allergy sufferers for their lack of odor.

The varieties are striking in their variety of colors, for example Two Some with orange petals and a dark burgundy center (Photo by N. Karkacheva)

Planting Asiatic Lilies

Proper planting of lilies begins with the selection of high-quality planting material. The bulbs are carefully selected, processed before planting and planted according to a given pattern in a suitable location.

Selecting bulbs for planting

It doesn’t matter what type of lily you decide to plant on your site – it all starts with purchasing a bulb. The bulb must be carefully examined for damage; it must be completely healthy.

When purchasing bulbs in February-March, planting material is stored in the refrigerator wrapped in craft paper and planted as soon as the soil allows. Plants are protected from frost by mulch of straw or hay.

It happens that you have to plant blooming lilies in the summer, in mid-July. It is also possible to transplant flowering plants in July, if it is done quickly and without damaging the roots.

How to Store Lily Bulbs Before Planting

Lilies can cause the most problems during storage. The refrigerator option will be acceptable, but you should not leave the bulbs there for more than a month. It is worth noting that species lilies, as well as oriental lilies, react worse to this method of storage and can begin to dry out within two weeks.

• When choosing, an important factor will be the absence of damage and signs of disease in the planting material.
• The optimal bulb size is 12–14 cm.
• Too large ones will take much longer to grow and start flowering.

Hybrids are winter-hardy, especially the Tango Crossover variety with delicate white petals, burgundy specks and orange stamens (Photo by N. Karkacheva)

Treatment of bulbs before planting

I always treat all the bulbs, even those bought from good friends, with 10% karbofos, although they write that it is outdated, but it helps very well against pests. Dilute 5 ml in 1 liter of water and place the onion in this solution for 10 seconds. Then rinse it with running water and begin preparing for planting.

• Mikorad Insecto helps against mole crickets, wireworms, cutworms: it is applied directly to the soil.
• For hover flies – 10% Karbofos (5 ml/1 l). The bulb is kept in the solution for 10 seconds and washed under running water. Modern insecticides can be used.
• If plants on the site are often affected by fungal diseases and the bulbs rot, they are first disinfected before planting (Fitosporin-M, preparations based on the fungus Trichoderma, Bactogen, Farmayod, Maxim).

Place

When choosing a planting site, remember that Asian hybrids grow best in an open area. You can place the plants in an area with light partial shade; the flowers will feel comfortable there too, and the amount of watering will be reduced.

Lilies respond best to moderate sunlight in the first half of the day. The scorching afternoon sun can cause damage to leaf blades, because water that gets on the foliage during rain or watering can act as a lens.

Soil

Lilies are demanding of soil: they prefer loose, fertile, air- and water-permeable, with a neutral reaction. For heavy ones, add a bucket of sand per 1 m2. The soil is dug up 2–3 weeks before planting and the weeds are removed. The soil should be moist, without stagnant water.

1. Two weeks before planting the corms in the ground, I begin preparing the soil.
2. The soil needs to be dug up with a shovel full, loosened and all weeds removed.
3. If the soil is dry, it must be watered, using 1 bucket of water per 1 square meter. m.

If the soils are heavy or too damp, then I advise you to add per 1 sq. m bucket of sand, otherwise the bulbs will rot due to the fact that excess moisture may accumulate between the scales.

Lilies bloom luxuriantly on fertile, loose soils (Photo of the Mapira variety by N. Karkacheva)

How to plant Asiatic lilies correctly

The planting material is placed in a hole on a sand cushion, placing the bulbs at 3 heights, counting from the bottom to the soil level. On light sandy soils, they are deepened another 2–3 cm; on heavy soils, on the contrary, 2–3 cm higher. The distance between the bulbs is 10–15 cm. Sprinkle them with soil mixed with compost and sand, with the addition of complex mineral fertilizer (in the fall without nitrogen) and ash. The soil is mulched with peat or compost, laying them in a layer of 1–2 cm. To protect the planting material from rodents, it is placed in baskets for bulbous plants.

Landing scheme

When determining a lily planting scheme, you first need to calculate the optimal depth; it will depend on both the composition of the soil and the growth vigor of a particular variety.

• I usually plant 3 onion diameters.
• On light, sandy soils, the tubers can be buried another 1 diameter.
• On heavy soils, on the contrary, the onion is planted 1 diameter higher.

When taking into account the growth force, you need to know how powerful and how quickly the flower will grow. For example, if the growth is moderate, the plant is not tall, then the planting depth should not exceed 11-13 cm, if the bulb is large enough, and if small, 8-9 cm.

Planting step by step

1. Before planting the bulb, I always place a handful of river sand at the bottom of the hole.

2. I place the onion directly on it with its bottom and sprinkle the hole with earth.

3. After planting, I always mulch the soil with peat or humus, laying it in a layer of 1-2 cm.

Hybrids need sunlight in the first half of the day (Photo shows the variety Red Twin and N. Karkacheva)

Caring for Asiatic Lilies

I begin caring for lilies the next year after planting. I focus on loosening the soil, watering, removing weeds and, of course, fertilizing.

Top dressing

Lilies consume moisture and nutrients from the soil at the very beginning of summer and immediately after flowering, when the bulb begins to actively form. In order to help plants both grow and accumulate nutrient reserves, it is advisable to feed them.

Feeding scheme

1. The first fertilizing is carried out after the snow melts (1 tablespoon of ammonium nitrate per 1 m2).
2. The second – when buds appear, also with ammonium nitrate: 0.5 tsp. for each plant.
3. At the end of July, phosphorus-potassium fertilizer is applied.

First feeding

It is better to do it in the spring, when there are no shoots on the surface yet, 1 tbsp is enough. l. ammonium nitrate per 1 sq. m.

Those who don’t like chemistry can be advised to add wood ash. Do not pour too much – 80-90 g per 1 square meter. m is quite enough. In general, ash is good because it is completely harmless, and it can be added throughout the entire season, literally 1 tbsp. l., and I use it very often to fertilize my cosmos and lilies.

Second feeding

More precisely, preventive treatment is carried out when sprouts appear. I advise you to spill the soil with 1% Bordeaux mixture, at the rate of 1 liter per 1 square meter. m.

Third feeding

I spend it when buds appear. Then ammonium nitrate is used, you need about half of 1 tsp. for each plant.

Fourth feeding

Well, in July, when August is approaching, I add superphosphate to my lilies. To prepare the solution, dilute 1 tbsp. l. in a bucket of water and spend 2-3 liters per 1 sq. m.

Water at the root and fertilize regularly so that the Landini variety of rare black and burgundy color appears in all its glory (Photo by N. Karkacheva)

Watering

Lilies need to be watered in a timely manner (especially in hot weather), at the root, so that water does not get on the leaves. It is important to regularly remove weeds and loosen the soil, doing this carefully so as not to damage the supra-bulb roots.

• It is best to water Asian hybrids at the root, and not at the foliage, otherwise signs of fungal diseases may appear on the leaf blades.
• Lilies are best suited to moderately moist soil.
• If you overwater the flowers, the plants will begin to wither and the bulbs will rot.

A mixture of dry river sand and wood ash can save lilies from excessive waterlogging. Mix these components (literally in a matchbox), add to the plants and do not water for a week.

Care after flowering

The seed capsule is removed after flowering. In autumn, when the trunk of the lily turns completely yellow, it is cut off, leaving a stump of 8–10 cm.

Shelter for the winter

I begin winter sheltering of lilies for the winter when the soil is slightly set by frost. I don’t spend money on special covering materials; I use regular plastic film. In the spring, I remove the film as soon as the snow melts so that the soil warms up faster.

Most Asian hybrids do not need shelter, even in regions with harsh climates. In places with little snow, you can pour peat or sand and cover with leaves to a height of 5–6 cm. In the spring, the mulch is raked off.

Reproduction

Lilies are propagated by dividing the bulb, daughter bulbs, scales and bulbs. There is also a seed method, cuttings and propagation by leaf blades; the effectiveness of these methods is low. The easiest way is to divide the bulb nests in the fall, when the plants have completely finished their growing season.

Asiatic lilies in garden design

Asiatic lilies look great against the backdrop of shrubs and flowers with large leaves, as well as conifers and ferns. Low-growing varieties outline paths well, and tall varieties go well with delphiniums in the background of mixborders. A curtain of yellow lilies can be a wonderful decoration for your lawn.

Varieties

It is worth paying attention to such varieties as

• Navona (white, up to 1 m),
• Veil Morgana (lemon yellow, terry, up to 95 cm),
• Izzy Salsa
• Candy Blossom,
• Lollipop,
• Apeldoorn,
• Apollo,
• Pollyanna,
• Serrada,
• Black Out.