How to Grow Liliums in Australia

Lilies (Lilium species and hybrids) are the true lilies, bulbs in the lily family (Liliaceae) grown for tall stems of large, often scented summer flowers. Daylilies, calla, canna, pineapple and belladonna lilies and lily of the valley are different plants. Lilies grow in every Australian climate from cool to tropical, and most failures start with a bulb left to dry out before planting. Every part of the plant, pollen included, can kill a cat.

Three mistakes that matter

1. Letting bulbs dry out before planting. Lily bulbs have no thick outer skin and no true dormant stage, so a bulb left on a bench dries and weakens. Plant on the day the bulbs arrive, or hold them cool in barely damp coir or shredded paper.
2. Planting into heavy, wet soil. Water lingering around the bulb invites basal rot, a fungal rot of the bulb base that strikes hardest in warm, wet ground. Choose free-draining soil, or plant on a mound, slope or raised bed wherever puddles form after rain.
3. Cutting the whole stem after flowering. The leaves rebuild the bulb for next summer. A stem cut to the ground, or a bloom picked with all its leaves, means fewer flowers the following year. Leave half to two thirds of each stem standing until it yellows.

When to plant

Plant bulbs from late autumn through winter. Shoots usually appear in one to two weeks. Bulbs planted in late winter or early spring flower about 10 to 17 weeks later, depending on the type. Those planted in late autumn grow slowly through the cold, so most lilies flower from late spring into late summer.

Bulbs bought late can still go in until early spring. In warm-winter gardens, read Chilling under Planting Bulbs before replanting bulbs from last year.

Site, soil and setup

Lilies want their flowers in the sun and their roots in cool, moist, free-draining soil. Orientals are the fussiest group: they prefer slightly acid soil and a sheltered spot out of hot afternoon sun and wind.

A clump can stay in one place for years, so rotation does not apply. After basal rot, plant lilies in a different bed for at least five years.

Which lily is which

Lilies and the state weed lists

No lily in the range is a declared weed in any state or territory. The lily that worries weed officers is Taiwan lily (Lilium formosanum), a white trumpet lily flushed purple outside. It has naturalised along roadsides and in bushland in south-east Queensland, coastal New South Wales and southern Victoria.

Lily seed and bulbs spread in dumped garden waste, so bin spare bulbs and seed pods rather than tipping them over the back fence.

Container growing

Use a pot of at least 20 L with drainage holes: a 40 cm pot holds about 27 L and takes three to five bulbs. Fill it with a quality potting mix made for bulbs. Compact 'Muscadet', OT Mixed and Double Tiger Lily all suit containers.

• Depth. Plant as under Planting Bulbs, keeping at least 5 cm of mix over the tip so roots can form on the stem.
• Watering. Keep the mix evenly moist from the first shoot until the stems yellow, as pots dry faster than beds. See watering pots through summer.
• Feeding. Mix a controlled release granular for containers into the mix at planting. Add fish and seaweed blend at 25 mL per 9 L every fortnight through summer.
• Position. Sun on the leaves and a shaded pot on hot afternoons, which keeps the roots cool.
• After flowering. Stand the pot where it is watered with the garden while the stems die down. In early winter, top-dress with fresh mix and stir in a controlled release granular for containers at the label rate.

Planting Bulbs

Each lily grows from one fresh, scaly bulb, planted straight into the bed or a pot.

Chilling

Lilies need a cold spell called vernalisation (a period of chill that triggers flowering). Bulbs from a supplier have been cold-stored already and need no extra chill. In tropical and subtropical gardens, lift Asiatic and Oriental bulbs once the stems have died down. Pack them in barely damp coir in a bag and chill them in the fridge at 2 to 8°C for six to eight weeks. Keep them away from apples and other ripening fruit, then replant.

Planting in the garden

• Choose firm bulbs and discard any that are soft or mouldy.
• Dig each hole about twice as deep as the bulb is tall, usually 10 to 15 cm.
• Set the bulb with its pointed tip up and roots down, 20 to 30 cm apart, in groups of three or more.
• Push a stake in beside tall varieties at planting, before roots spread.
• Water in well, then keep the soil moist but not wet until shoots appear in one to two weeks.

Care by growth stage

Steady moisture and cool roots decide how well lilies flower. Feed at least twice: once as buds form, which keeps the lower leaves green, and again after flowering, as the bulb rebuilds.

Week ranges run from a spring planting; autumn plantings reach each stage later. Mulch with lucerne or pea straw before summer to keep roots cool, and top-dress established clumps with compost each late winter as shoots appear.

Orientals, OT hybrids and Christmas lilies often need support in open, windy gardens, while tiger lilies stand on their own.

• Use a stake roughly as tall as the variety grows.
• Tie stems loosely to the stake with soft ties as they lengthen.
• In pots, lean three bulbs slightly inward around one central stake so the stems support each other.
• Lift and divide crowded clumps every three to four years in late autumn, replanting without delay. See dividing perennials.

Companion planting

Low plants that shade the soil keep lily roots cool while the stems rise clear above them.

Grows well with

• Alyssum, a low carpet that shades the soil over the bulbs.
• Violas, shallow-rooted winter colour that covers bare soil until the lily shoots rise.
• Azaleas and camellias, which share the cool, slightly acid soil that Orientals prefer.

Keep away anything that shares lily viruses or draws cats into the bed.

Keep apart

• Tulips, which carry tulip breaking virus, a virus that also infects lilies.
• Tiger lilies (Lilium lancifolium), which often carry lily mosaic virus without showing it. Aphids then spread it to Asiatic and Oriental lilies.
• Catnip and catmint, which attract cats into the bed.

Harvesting Blooms

Cut lilies for the vase once the first bud shows colour and is starting to open.

• Cut no more than half the stem, leaving the lower leaves to feed the bulb.
• Strip off any leaves that would sit below the water.
• Stand stems in a bucket of clean water for a few hours, then recut them at an angle.
• Pull the anthers off onto a tissue as each flower opens, so pollen cannot stain petals, cloth or a cat's fur.
• Snap off fading garden flowers so the bulb spends nothing on seed.

Lilies are long-lasting cut flowers. Treat every part of the plant as inedible.

Common problems

Leaves but no flowers. A small or young bulb, deep shade, stems cut too hard the year before or a warm winter without chill is usually to blame. Give more sun and see Chilling under Planting Bulbs.

Bulbs that never came up. A bulb that dried out before planting or sat in wet soil has usually rotted, as in Three mistakes that matter. Read more

Lower leaves yellowing before flowering. Plants left unfed as buds form often yellow from the base up, so give the bud-stage feed under Care by growth stage.

Stems leaning or snapping. Wind and heavy flower heads topple tall types in open sites, so stake them and shelter the bed.

Pests and diseases

Lilies have few pests, and snails, aphids and basal rot cause most losses in Australian gardens.

Garden snail (Cornu aspersum). Snails and slugs chew lily shoots just as they break through the soil, mostly at night. Collect them by torchlight after rain while the shoots are young. Read more

Aphids (family Aphididae). These small sap-suckers cluster on shoot tips and buds, leave sticky honeydew and can spread lily mosaic virus, which has no cure. Hose small colonies off. Read more

Lily leaf blight (Botrytis elliptica). This fungus, recorded in Australia, makes oval brown spots that spread until most of the leaf dies, and it needs wet weather to infect. Pick off and bin spotted leaves at once, since the fungus survives in dead leaves in the soil.

Basal rot (Fusarium oxysporum). This soil fungus enters through the base of the bulb, worst in warm, wet ground; leaves yellow early and the bulb shows brown, rotted scales. Lift and bin affected bulbs, as the fungus lingers in soil for at least three years.

Prevention first

• Buy firm, healthy bulbs, since basal rot arrives on infected bulbs.
• Plant in free-draining soil, and never leave pots standing in water.
• Water at soil level, and bin any plant with streaked, twisted leaves.

Tips

1. For lilies in flower on a set date, plant a few bulbs each week across the window, since weather shifts the timing.
2. Plant a few extra bulbs just for cutting, so the garden clumps keep their stems and leaves.
3. Pair early Asiatic and LA types with later Orientals to spread the flowers across summer.
4. Pollen-free doubles such as 'Red Twin' spare the tablecloth, but they are just as toxic to cats as any other lily.

Due to quarantine restrictions and our shipping policy, we cannot send lily bulbs to Western Australia or Tasmania.