plant spotlight: easter lilies in charleston

Charleston is bursting with blooms! As you're walking around town this time of year, stop and take in the beauty of a city in full spring bloom. You can find swaths of flowering azaleas around Hampton park and wisteria romantically draped along a Meeting Street fence. Another telltale sign spring is here? The grocery store and garden center shelves are FULL of Easter Lilies!

Lilium longiflorum or Easter Lily has narrow, dark green leaves and showy white trumpet shaped flowers. The blooms are fragrant and a traditional symbol of hope and life during the Easter season. Generally, Easter lilies are grown in pots in greenhouses and forced to bloom around Easter to be sold as a holiday item. We often think of these plants as seasonal or indoor decor, but with a little work you can transfer them to your garden.

Potted Easter Lily Care

Easter lilies thrive in a sunny window in your home with consistent watering. In pots outside, they require 4-6 hours of sun but keep them shaded from harsh, direct afternoon sun. They like for their soil to stay moist, so water when the top inch is dry. When watering, remove any decorative paper or wrapping to prevent the plant from sitting in standing water. Make sure you're choosing an Easter lily with a few blooms and many buds! While the individual flowers will only last a few days, the other buds will continue to bloom in stages over a couple weeks. You should remove the yellow anthers before they start to pollen to prolong bloom length and cut off flowers as they start to fade.

Easter Lily Care in the Garden

Once your plant has finished flowering, consider moving it to your garden! Easter Lilies thrive in part to full sun but will benefit from shade relief from the afternoon sun. They are a herbaceous perennials that will bloom later in the summer, when not forced by growers to bloom near Easter. Plant in well draining soil and add a 2 inch layer of mulch or pine straw to help conserve moisture. Remove stalks as they yellow and dry in the fall to winter, maintain mulch through the winter, and fertilize in the spring to encourage new growth.

Important Note for Cat Lovers

Easter Lilies are beautiful, but dangerous! All parts of the plant are highly toxic to cats. Ingesting small portions of the leaves, blooms, or even pollen can cause vomiting, dehydration, loss of appetite and can progress to more serious disorientation and seizures. Keep these plants away from cats and contact your vet immediately if you suspect ingestion.

Shop online or in store before they're gone!

Lilium 'Easter Lily'

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