How garden lilies reproduce. General rules for planting and transplanting lilies

Lily is a truly multifaceted flower. It turns out that in the culture of lilies were used not only as an ornamental plant!

For example, in China and Japan, starting from the 13th century, some varieties of lilies (in particular, the lanceolate lily) were grown solely for the bulbs that were eaten. And the use of the lily as an ornamental plant in China and Japan began much later - in the 17th century. In European parks, the lily as an ornamental plant has been cultivated everywhere since the end of the 16th century.

But to grow a lily, so to speak, on an industrial scale, they learned precisely in our time. And as you might guess, the famous flower growers, the Dutch, were the most successful in this matter.

Moreover, cultivation and “harvesting” on dozens of hectares of fields sown with lily bulbs are automated as much as possible: harvesters, washer-dryers, bulb storages, in which the specified humidity and temperature are maintained - everything is organized in such a way as to obtain the highest quality products.

From such enterprises, lily bulbs are sent to different parts of the world, so that every grower has the opportunity to decorate his garden with exactly those representatives of the lily family that he likes the most! Moreover, the difference among lilies is not limited to specific features, since many varieties and hybrids have been bred on the basis of the original species today, striking the eye with an unprecedented variety of shapes and shades!

lilies- these are perennial bulbous herbs, reaching a height of 180 cm. According to one version, the name "lily" comes from the Greek word lerion - "white"; from this word came the Latin Lirium, later transformed into Lilium. Currently, there are more than 100 species of lilies, differing from each other both in flower shape and in color and size, common in central and southern Asia, Europe and North America.

At the same time, the area of growth of the lily is unusually wide: flowers of various lilies can be found both in areas with a warm climate (south of China, Taiwan, the Philippines), and in an area with temperate climate and even in the cold north (Japan, Korea, taiga forests of the Primorsky Territory of Russia, the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island).

Lilies, as already mentioned, are perennials, so during the growing season they accumulate nutrients in underground organs - bulbs, wintering in a flower bed until spring. The depth of the bulbs in the ground can vary depending on the type of lily variety: most varieties form bulbs at a considerable depth, but there are also lilies with bulbs located near the soil surface. It is noteworthy that in a climatic zone with frost-free winters, lily stems in the cold season may not die off completely, but only partially wither, to the rosette. With the onset of climatic spring, the stem preserved from autumn gives rise to new shoots, and the cycle of flower development is repeated.

Lily flowers can be both quite small (like the wild Martagon lily) and very large, like many varietal varieties, often have a pleasant aroma. The range of shades of flowers is very diverse: from classic white to interesting yellow, orange, red and even purple shades. Most lilies bloom in late spring - early summer. The flower has 6 recurved petals and large protruding stamens and pistil. This form helps to attract pollinating insects to the flower. Seeds ripen on lily flowers at the end of summer.

Choosing lily bulbs for growing

When buying bulbs, you must follow a few simple but important rules. First of all, you should avoid places of spontaneous trade, that is, do not buy lily bulbs from your hands: in markets, in places of unauthorized trade near garden shops. Indeed, with such a purchase, you not only risk getting a “pig in a poke”, that is, buying a completely different variety or hybrid that you are promised, but also bringing a plant infected, for example, with fungi, into the garden, as a result of which healthy flowers may also suffer, including lilies (if you plan to complete the collection of lilies in your garden). That's why best option- buy lily bulbs in specialized stores selling plants and manufacturers that have proven themselves in the market.

But even if you buy bulbs, for example, brought from Holland, in a bag with the appropriate label, you should still carefully examine the bulbs before purchasing. First of all, feel each bulb - a healthy bulb should be firm, without softening or signs of rot. The bulb must have several roots and a sprout. Also, the packaging with the bulbs should not be too rumpled - this may indicate that the bulbs have been stored in the store for a long time, transferred from box to box and, therefore, have been at an unsuitable temperature for a long time.

Lily bulbs should be bought as close as possible to the day of planting: in this case, the risk of damage to the bulbs due to improper storage during the period from purchasing them in the store to planting is significantly reduced. If you still need to hold the bulbs at home for some time until the day of planting, then this can only be done at a certain temperature. The best place for this is the compartment of the refrigerator, where the temperature is maintained at 0 degrees. Lily bulbs can be stored in the refrigerator in any air-permeable container. For example, in a cardboard box, mixed with dry peat or sphagnum. If, on the bulbs, even in the refrigerator, sprouts begin to lengthen, then you should not be afraid of this, as this is a natural process: lily bulbs grow even in winter. Landing in the ground can be done at the very beginning of spring. The only condition is that there should be a positive temperature outside and the ground should not be frozen.

planting lilies

Lily bulbs are usually planted in the ground in autumn (no later than 3 weeks before the onset of frost) or in early spring, as soon as the ground thaws.

Planting material must be healthy: the bulbs should not show signs of rot, soft dents, fresh mechanical damage. Before planting, it is necessary to carefully examine the bulb and, if dry tips of the roots are found on it, cut them off with a secateurs. The depth of planting depends on the bulb itself: large bulbs are buried deeper, smaller ones closer to the surface of the earth. In order not to make a mistake with the calculation of the depth, you can always use a simple rule: plant the bulb to a depth of three sizes of the bulb itself (an exception is the planting of a snow-white lily and hybrids derived from it to a depth of no more than 3 cm).

The distance between the bulbs when planting is usually 15-30 cm, depending on the size of the plants. Before planting, it is imperative to drain the planting hole with sand: sand is poured onto the bottom of the hole, then it is impossible to get into it due to the sprout being too long, then the bulb in the hole will need to be placed at an angle so that the sprout hides underground and the bulb is not planted too deep. Also, when planting certain lilies, it is necessary to carefully study the characteristics of a particular variety: remember that not all natural types and hybrids of lilies are frost-resistant enough and it may happen that some of them cannot grow in your region. Therefore, in order not to waste time and labor in vain, choose for planting only those varieties of lilies that are adapted to your climate zone.

And we must not forget about spring frosts. In principle, most lilies withstand the return of cold and spring frosts without damage,

but there are exceptions. For example, lilies of the Tubular hybrid group may suffer during spring frosts and therefore not bloom, therefore, during cold weather, it is recommended to cover the planting site of tubular lilies with last year's foliage or any other insulation. And it is also necessary to remember the need of each variety of lilies in sunlight. It is known that many lilies grow quite well in partial shading (for example, lilies of the Martagon group), but still, an open sunny place is optimal for most lilies (especially for tubular and snow-white hybrids). And last but not least important condition proper planting of lilies - the correct selection of soil according to the level of acidity. For example, lilies of the LA and OT hybrids grow on neutral soils, tubular lilies and lilies of the Candidum group prefer slightly alkaline soils, lilies of the Oriental and American hybrids grow well on acidic soils, lilies of the Asian hybrid group and the Martagon hybrid group - on slightly acidic or neutral.

Lily Care

Lilies in summer special care do not require. Most varieties of lilies can withstand short-term drying of the soil in hot weather in summer, so artificial watering should be done only during a long drought (with the exception of Oriental hybrids that prefer frequent watering). Important rule artificial watering of lilies: watering can only be done at the root, water sprayers should not be used.

Lily feeding

During the growing season, lilies should be fed with complex mineral or organic fertilizers, especially if lilies are grown on poor soils. At the same time, the larger and the more magnificent this or that variety of lily should bloom, the more demanding it is for top dressing. Usually lilies are fertilized 3-4 times during the growing season, and the type of fertilizer depends on the phase of development of lilies. In spring, growth-stimulating nitrogen fertilizers are applied, phosphorus fertilizers before and during flowering, and potash fertilizers after flowering, which increase the ability of plants to withstand winter cold. In the summer, weeding, loosening the soil around the plants and pest control, if any, should also be carried out as necessary.

In the autumn period, it is necessary to take care of the proper preparation for the winter of certain varieties of lilies. Particular attention will need to be paid to the lilies of the Eastern group, as well as OT hybrids: in the autumn, the bulbs of these varieties should be in dry ground, so in rainy weather, their place of growth will need to be covered with a film.

In the first winter after planting, all lilies must be covered, regardless of their frost resistance. In subsequent winters - as needed, depending on the climate of your region and the frost resistance of the species, variety or hybrid of lilies you have planted.

Lily breeding

The easiest ways to propagate lilies are by dividing bulbs, bulbous scales and stem buds (bulbs).

Reproduction of lilies by dividing the bulbs

During life, the bulb of lilies divides all the time, so the so-called babies are formed around it, eventually reaching sizes mother plant. Outwardly, this process is manifested in the formation of a bush of lilies in place of one adult plant. Therefore, such a bush can be divided and planted in a new place. The division of the bush is best done when the young lilies reach a height of 10 cm, and according to the time of year - in autumn or spring. The transplant process is simple: a lily bush is dug up, young bulbs are separated from it, before planting, the bulbs are soaked in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes and planted in a new place on the same day.

bulb scales

The method of propagation of bulbs by scales is based on interesting fact: scales of lily bulbs are viable on their own and can form a full-fledged bulb and plant. And this is how it is done. Bulbs of adult lilies are dug up in early spring or autumn. The bulb is washed, cleaned of dirt. Then it is necessary to carefully separate a number of outer scales at the base so that the bulb is reduced in volume by no more than half. The remaining bulb can be planted again in a flower bed, and the scales must be soaked for half an hour in a weak solution of potassium permanganate and then treated with a drug that stimulates root formation. Then the dried scales should be mixed with sphagnum moss and placed in this form in plastic boxes, closing them with lids on top.

In this form, boxes with scales are placed in a dark but warm place with a temperature of about 23 ° C and kept for 6 weeks. Then, for another 4 weeks, the temperature in the room where the boxes are stored must be reduced to 17 ° C. As a result, we will get small bulbs formed on the scales of lilies. In this form, the plants should be planted in a permanent place in the garden or temporarily in boxes if it is still too cold outside. The formation of adult plants from scales occurs in the 2-3rd year after planting.

Lily stem bulbs

One more interesting way reproduction of lilies - with the help of stem buds (bulbs). True, this method has one drawback - not all varieties of lilies form stem bulbs. However, the phenomenon is not uncommon, especially during long periods of warm but damp weather.

Most often, bulbs are formed after the flowering period of lilies, ripening in the axils between the leaf and the stem. At the end of maturation, the bulbs are separated. From now on, they are suitable for planting. It is better to plant bulbils from autumn not directly in the garden, but in a special container in the form of seedlings. The container itself is placed in a cool room with a slightly positive temperature for the winter. And with the advent of climatic spring, when young sprouts appear on the bulbs, they must be planted in a permanent place in the garden.

Two options for wintering lilies

Wintering lilies involves two options: staying indoors in the winter and digging up the bulbs for the winter and storing them indoors at a certain temperature and humidity.

Wintering lilies in the ground

Those lilies can winter in the ground, the frost resistance of which does not cause concern in relation to the average temperatures of the coldest month in each individual region. For example, it is known that the lilies of the Asian hybrid group, the Martagon group, as well as a number of new hybrid groups, for example, LA hybrids, are the least sensitive to frost.

Varieties with low frost resistance include a group of long-flowered hybrids, as well as part of the groups of Oriental and Tubular hybrids.

On the other hand, in the first year after planting, most varieties of lilies require shelter for the winter, as the plants are not yet strong enough.

A good means of shelter for lilies are a variety of plant remains- fallen leaves, straw, mowed grass. The best multi-layer shelter, consisting of how many layers of vegetable from garden soil. In snowy weather, the growth of lilies is additionally insulated with snow sprinkled on top of the insulation. A more complex shelter for the winter requires Oriental and Tubular hybrids. These varieties can winter only in dry ground, therefore, starting from autumn, the growth sites of these lilies must be protected from moisture during precipitation days with a film.

Wintering lilies at home

Digging for the winter and storing lily bulbs at home is done as follows. Bulbs dug out in autumn are cleaned from the ground, washed and dried. Then a visual inspection of the bulbs is performed: specimens with rot spots or traces of mechanical damage are removed from the total mass. After that, the bulbs are treated with a fungicide and placed in a winter storage place. No pre-treatment, such as root trimming, is required. Store lily bulbs in containers with paper base passing air. It can be cardboard boxes or boxes, paper bags.

Before loading into the container, the bulbs must be mixed with a mixture of pine sawdust and peat in a ratio of 1:1. The storage place for the bulbs should be cool (with a constant temperature of 0-2°C) and sufficiently humid (at least 70% humidity).

Growing lilies at home

Part of garden lilies can be grown in a container. This method has several advantages. Firstly, the container with lilies can be easily moved in the garden, it can be placed on the terrace, balcony, seating area. Secondly, container-grown lilies are easier to cover from the rain in autumn and are conveniently stored in a cold room in winter at the optimum temperature for overwintering lilies. Well, the main advantage of this method is the ability to grow those varieties of lilies that cannot overwinter in the open field due to their non-frost resistance.

One such lily is the Philippine lily. This species will not be able to overwinter outdoors, but will grow well in a container. A notable feature of the Philippine lily is an unusually shaped stem and white, sometimes with a greenish tint and a delicate aroma, tubular flowers. The Philippine lily is demanding on light, warmth and regular watering. For the winter, a container with a Philippine lily is placed in a cool room, watering is reduced to a minimum and kept until spring. At the beginning of spring, a container with a lily can be placed on the southern balcony or loggia, and when warm, frost-free weather sets in, it can be taken out again into the garden.

Another example is the lily of Formosa. This species is found in nature in southern China and on the island of Taiwan, therefore it is also not frost-resistant. But Formosan lily also of interest as a container plant. Her undoubted merit - tubular fragrant flowers are not

the usual color, white inside the petals and painted maroon on the outside, turning into the same maroon stem. The Formosan lily can winter in a bright and cool room, and the growing season of a lily in favorable conditions (a lot of light and heat) may not stop at all.

The longiflorum lily is another species that is best suited for growing in a container. Lily longiflora grows naturally in southern Japan, reaches a height of 1 meter and is decorated with classic white tubular fragrant flowers.

Another heat-loving species will look really graceful in a container - lily countless. This is a lily from the southern regions of China, reaches a height of 180 cm. The flowers of the countless lily are large, tubular, fragrant, white at the edges, yellow inside, and outside, closer to the base, are decorated with burgundy veins. Lily is not frost-resistant, can winter in a container in a cool room.

But perhaps the most valuable representative of container lilies can be considered royal lily because of its unusually strong aroma. In nature, the royal lily grows in southwestern China, has white funnel-shaped flowers, with yellow spots inside, decorated with pink-purple veins on the outside. The frost resistance of the royal lily is low, but in regions with mild winters it can be grown outdoors.

Lilies, being one of the most beautiful flowers, cannot hide somewhere in the corner of the garden, they must always be in sight. At the same time, it is desirable that the lilies not only please the eye when, for example, you leave the house to the garden or enter the garden from the street, but also be planted in such a way that they can be seen from the window of those rooms in your house where you spend enough time. Well, how to place lilies in the garden and in relation to which plants - there are options. It should only be remembered that many lilies are quite photophilous, so shaded places for most hybrids will not work. How to place lilies in the garden? Just take a look at your garden. Does it have an artificial reservoir? If so, lilies make a great addition to the tall grasses commonly grown around a pond. The only condition is that lilies should be planted on the side of the pond opposite, and not adjacent to the viewing point, otherwise the bright flowers of lilies will simply distract attention from the reservoir to themselves, and this is undesirable, since the pond itself is an attractive object of the garden.

Lilies planted along look great garden paths, especially if the space between the paths is occupied by a simple lawn and small compositions, for example, from coniferous crops.

Many lily hybrids vary considerably in size. Therefore, when forming a composition of various lilies, the tallest varieties should be placed in the center, and the lowest ones along the edges. You can complement the composition of lilies along the edges of the flower bed with the help of unpretentious hosta bushes. The hosta successfully hides the stems of the extreme lilies and covers the free space between the ground and the flowers of the lilies.

During the formation of garden compositions, it is desirable to select varieties of lilies not only by color, but also by flowering time. After all, if you plant lilies in one place that bloom at different periods of summer, then we will get continuously blooming flower bed.

Diseases and pests of lilies

In order for lilies to always delight you with their delightful flowers and not get sick, you need to provide them with proper care and protection. Consider the most common and dangerous diseases and lily pests that can threaten your pets.

lily chlorosis

Most lilies usually suffer from violations of the rules of agricultural technology and diseases resulting from this. The most common mistake gardeners make is planting heat-loving lilies in a cold climate zone or on soils with an unsuitable acid-base reaction. For example, on excessively alkaline soils, many lilies can develop chlorosis. This is especially true for hybrids adapted to acidic soils (American hybrids, for example). Chlorosis is a process caused by the death of chlorophyll, and externally manifests itself in the appearance of rusty spots and stripes on the leaves of lilies, moreover, than stronger disease, the more yellowness on the leaves and stems of the plant. Also, the cause of the appearance of chlorosis in lilies can be excessive precipitation, since the trace elements necessary for the plant are washed out of the soil by rainwater.

Control measures. The best way help a lily with chlorosis - transplant it to a new place suitable for the acidity of the soil or acidify the soil around the plant yourself. To do this, it is enough to mulch the soil with rotted pine needles, bark or sawdust. You can also sprinkle forest soil around the bushes from under old pines. In the case of the appearance of chlorosis due to rain, it is also necessary to add additional fertilizers containing iron and magnesium to the soil.

In the case of growing lilies in an unsuitable climatic zone, for example, South Asian hybrids in a zone with a short warm summer and a long period of climatic winter (3 months or more), there is a risk of plant death in the first winter due to a reduction in the growing season and damping out in winter, so how they are completely unadapted to a long dormant period.

Botrytis, or gray rot

A frequent disease of lilies is botrytis, or gray rot, caused by a specific fungus that often settles on thickened and long-grown lily plantations in one place. The cause of infection can be prolonged rains or excessive watering of lilies, in which moisture constantly remains on the leaves and flowers. In the first place in the risk group are hybrids bred on the basis of snow-white lily, Henry lily, martagon lily and Daurian lily. Signs of the disease are easy to determine visually. Initially, brown spots form on the leaves, intensively increasing in diameter and acquiring a whitish tint. The disease 'spreads quickly to the whole plant, the vegetation stops, the lily begins to dry out from top to bottom in parts and dies, while the bulb remains alive (the fungus does not affect the bulbs). The following year, the lily grows again and, as a rule, is again affected by the fungus.

Control measures. The best remedy fight against gray rot - three times treatment of lilies with a 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid and a solution of soda ash (3-4 tablespoons per bucket of water). At the end of summer, for the purpose of prevention, lily stems should be cut and burned outside the garden: the fungus overwinters on the stems, so they should not be left in the flower bed.

Fusarium in lilies

Another common disease of lilies is Fusarium. With Fusarium, unlike botrytis, lily bulbs are primarily affected. Moreover, infection can occur even during storage of the bulbs, if they are mechanically damaged or if the storage rules are violated. The disease is transmitted by spores that are in the ground and remain viable for up to three years. The external sign of damage to the bulbs is the formation of rot spots, usually near the bottom of the bulb, and the disease progresses, as a result of which the bulb loses scale after scale and eventually rots completely.

Control measures.

In order to save lily bulbs with signs of minor damage, they must be cleaned.

from the affected parts and treat with a fungicide, such as foundationazole. Bulbs treated in this way can only be planted on another part of the site - away from the place where lilies affected by the fungus grow. Severely damaged bulbs must be burned. But in lilies in the middle of the growing season, the external sign of fusarium is yellowing and drying of the leaves in the lower part of the bush. In this case, it is necessary to wait until the end of summer, dig up the bulbs and process them according to the scheme described above. The following year, a flower bed with lilies will need to be laid in a new place.

Also predisposing factors to the appearance of fusarium are excessive soil moisture, its acidity, as well as an excess of nitrogen fertilizers.

One of the common diseases of lilies is viral mosaic. Light spots appear on the leaves, the plants grow weakly, the stems are bent, the buds and flowers are ugly.

Control measures. Methods for treating the disease are unknown - infected lilies must be dug up and destroyed. Also, for the prevention of viral mosaic, it is necessary to timely deal with aphids, mites, thrips, red beetle.

Lily red beetle and aphids

Some insects are also capable of causing significant harm to lilies. These include the lily red beetle and aphids.

Control measures. You can fight the beetle both mechanically (collecting manually and destroying it), and with the help of chemicals(suitable means to combat Colorado potato beetle). It is possible to fight effectively against aphids on lilies only with the help of special preparations focused on combating precisely this pest.

Lily useful properties

Among the numerous genus of lilies, some species deservedly enjoy the reputation of medicinal plants.

One of these species - tiger lily - is used, in particular, in the manufacture of homeopathic preparations and in folk medicine. It is noteworthy that most of the preparations made from tiger lily are most of all used in the treatment of women's ailments, namely irritability, depression, and chronic fatigue. There is also an opinion that lily-based preparations help women find inner harmony, minimizing the consequences of contradictions in character!

From the point of view of official medicine, such a tiger lily is due to a pronounced sedative effect, as well as the ability of the latter to normalize hormonal balance. Therefore, you are constantly sad, feel depressed, burdened with unbearable worries and responsibilities - preparations based on tiger lily are just for you! Science also notes the positive effect of tiger lily preparations on the female reproductive organs, as well as a positive effect on people suffering from colds and ailments associated with circulatory disorders.

No less famous in folk medicine is the white lily. Medicines made from various parts white lily, are able to treat skin diseases, heal wounds, soften, moisturize the skin and remove unwanted pigmentation. Ointments based on white lily can relieve joint pain, as well as headaches. Also, a decoction of white lily petals can be used as a healing agent for stomatitis. This is all the more relevant in our time, since frequent stomatitis left untreated is the cause of other diseases.

For the treatment of stomatitis, white lily pistils are brewed in milk with the addition of sugar, infused and kept in the mouth for 10-15 minutes. Oil and alcohol infusions are also prepared from the white lily.

Oil infusion is prepared from lily leaves and flowers, filled with vegetable refined oil, preheated to a temperature of 70-80°C. Such a tincture should be infused for a month in direct sun and can subsequently be used as a skin care product.

Alcohol tincture is even easier to prepare: a container filled with half crushed lily flowers is poured with vodka a little more than half the container and infused for a month and a half.

This tincture can treat wounds, as well as effectively fight acne and other skin diseases. You can also use this solution in the form of a lotion, after diluting it with water.

Lilies - questions and answers

Last year I had a friend, an exquisite lady of slightly post-Balzac age, a ceramist by profession and a newly converted florist by passion. Moreover, she reads a lot and different things, but some confusion about the news of her hobby in her head has not yet dissipated.

That is why there are a lot of questions, sometimes unexpected, often well-aimed, methodically written out on a separate piece of paper, with which she usually comes to me.

How to increase the winter hardiness of Oriental lilies, which fall with enviable regularity?

Unfortunately, they fall out more often simply because they are old, and not because they are cold. This is a natural process and should be treated as a given. And the reproduction rate of lilies of this garden class close to unity (bulbs are practically

do not share). And the only thing we can do (if we don’t want to mess with scales, and propagating bulbs with scales is not a quick process). - just quietly bribe new ones. Although there is a bit of truth in covering them lightly for the winter, as winter hardiness weakens with age. So, by sprinkling them with leaf or humus for wintering, we can add a couple of years of life to them.

And why did the lily have 54 buds? Can you make the others bloom like that?

I am afraid it is not. Such a huge number of buds and flowers, or rather, the ability to recruit them is inherent in single varieties. And a well-fed onion is capable of this. In essence, this is a stem fused from several buds, which is why there are so many flowers on them. It can be seen that this stem is a ribbed ribbon. The next year, the same bulb will most likely bloom normally.

What about the second wave of rose blooms, does it weaken the bushes, they will not prepare for frost? Maybe cut off the flowers?

With normal care, flowering does not weaken rose bushes. On the contrary, by cutting flowers, we provoke the growth of new shoots, which may not have time to ripen and then freeze. Therefore, at the end of summer, it is advised not to even be too zealous with cutting flowers.

Is it necessary to reduce watering in August, again, in order not to “soften” the plants? Should I stop feeding for the same reason?

With watering, everything is exactly the opposite, the lack of moisture is almost worse than its excess. In trees and shrubs, shoots ripen worse in drought. Excess moisture is harmful against the background of excess nitrogen or already late autumn, but that's a completely different story.

Lack of nutrition is also not good. Of course, in August they reduce the proportion of nitrogen in top dressing, but they significantly reduce it, there is no need to remove it completely, unless the soil is too “fat”. Dung and herbal infusions, beloved by organists, can already be set aside in August. Do not like chemistry - use ash. There is also potassium and a little phosphorus, but do not forget that there is also a deoxidizing component. And a lot of calcium, which not all cultures like. But talking about top dressing, we find ourselves in the Procrustean bed of average recommendations. Still, according to the mind, the “diet” should be selected a little more targeted, depending on the crop and the condition of the soil. Therefore, it is still better to use ready-made fertilizers, specially “sharpened” for crops and terms of application.

Our lilies

We live in Belarus, we work at an enterprise for the production of automatic systems drip irrigation for greenhouses. This equipment greatly facilitates the work of summer residents, it is also known in Ukraine. My wife and I also use it on our suburban area. I especially like to grow flowers, they have quite a lot of space.

A large bush of tree-like hydrangea flaunts under the windows; climbing rose, and lilies took center stage. Belarus has an ideal climate for hydrangea, so it grows quickly and always blooms very profusely. The rose pleases with flowering only once a year, but the aroma of its lovely flowers is so delicate that this shortcoming can be forgiven. But we treat lilies with special trepidation.

Although we come to the dacha only on weekends, the lilies do not suffer from this. In our opinion, it is not difficult to grow them. Even novice growers can handle this business. It is only important to purchase healthy planting material. When buying, we carefully inspect each bulb so that there are no stains, damage, or mold on them. We plant lilies depending on the time of acquisition of planting material - in summer, spring or autumn.

They need a sunny place. Our flower garden is just located on the south side of the house and is not shaded by trees. We plant the bulbs in rows, according to the scheme 30 × 30 cm (when planting, it seems that this is quite rare, but lilies love space), to a depth equal to two bulb diameters. The soil in our area is fertile and holds moisture well, so when planting under the bulbs, we pour a thin layer of sand.

In the first two years, we do not feed lilies. We water in the early morning right under the root and only if necessary, in dry weather. Be sure to make sure that there is no stagnation of water. In the natural and climatic conditions of Belarus and Ukraine, these flowers can winter without shelter.

The most important thing in growing lilies is regular weeding. If it is not possible to frequently remove weeds, you can mulch planting lilies with mowed grass, a layer of 10 cm. Mulch not only prevents the growth of weeds, but also prevents the topsoil from drying out. We try to pick flowers with our hands, and not cut them with a knife (it is far from always possible to pick a lily with your hand, as a rule, you need a knife or pruner for this, especially if we are talking about powerful software and aircraft hybrids). That, in principle, is all that a beginner grower needs to know about growing lilies. Even this minimal care is enough for them. With all our busyness and a rare visit to the dacha, lilies bloom luxuriously in our garden.

Zhanna and Igor SYCHEV, Minsk

Lily at home

Blooming lily right in the house! That's quite possible! There will be no particular difficulties with its cultivation. Moreover, you can adjust the flowering periods and get beautiful buds for solemn family events.

A lily in a pot can be tall (1.5 m) or in the form of a small compact bush(depending on variety).

It is important to choose the correct size of the pot. Landmark: for a 1.5-meter flower, I take a container 35-40 cm high. With a pot diameter of 40 cm, no more than 4 bulbs can be planted in it (each of them will require a volume of 16 sq. cm for planting). Single landings are not entirely profitable due to the formation of a large number of children. And the lily will bloom in this case only after a few years - as soon as the volume of the pot is filled with young bulbs.

Important Points

It is important to choose the right planting material: the weight of a good bulb should be from 40 g; the presence of live roots about 5 cm long.

For growing in a pot, I take lilies of oriental, dwarf, Asian, royal and long-flowered varieties.
I pre-stratify the bulbs (I keep them in the refrigerator for 15-20 days) at a temperature of +5 degrees.
Before planting, the bulbs are soaked for 30 minutes in a pink solution of potassium permanganate (5 g per 10 liters of water). Then I dry it in the shade.

When is the best time to plant lilies in a pot? There are no strict deadlines in this matter - any season of the year is suitable. If you set yourself the task of decorating the balcony in the summer, plant the bulbs in March (second decade). And already in the second half of May they will delight you with beautiful flowering! Later budding dates will require you to repeat plantings at two-week intervals. Would you like to receive flowers in December? Then plan planting work for the end of September.

Growing lilies - mistakes in care

When I started doing flowers in the distant 1990s, I had no experience, no teachers, no suitable literature. Therefore, I had to fill myself with a lot of bumps before something began to work out. Here are some of my mistakes that I want to tell you so that they are not repeated by those who have just begun to comprehend the basics of floriculture.

1. SURFACE FIT

I bought the first lilies in early March. Plant them in open ground it was too early and I put the bulbs in the fridge. One of them had a rather large sprout. And then I made my first mistake.

Having pulled the bulb out of the refrigerator, I planted it in a pot, and so that the sprout was above the soil level. Then, when weather conditions allowed, I planted all the bulbs in the ground. Soon the lilies sprang up and quickly began to grow. But the one from the pot seemed to freeze. Then the lilies began to bloom. All bloomed except for the one in the pot. She remained small and somehow tortured. It did not bloom the next year either. Only when I transplanted it (the bulb was small, not at all like the one I once bought), did it bloom. Now I know for sure: the planting depth is very important point, they cannot be neglected. The bulb should be planted at a depth of approximately 3 times its diameter. The presence of a sprout should not change anything, it can be completely covered with soil, the main thing is not to break it.

2. AUTUMN PLANTING OF BULBS WITH SPROUTS

In autumn I bought bulbs with large sprouts. very attracted me low price. The seller encouraged: "Dig deeper, and everything will be fine." Since a trip to the dacha was not planned in the near future, I decided to plant the bulbs in large containers and leave them on the balcony (the volume of the containers resembled buckets). The landing was carried out in accordance with all the rules, the sprouts fell asleep, literally a day later the sprouts appeared above the ground. I put them back to sleep and they reappeared. Then I stopped competing with them and left the lilies alone. When the cold came, I brought the containers home. Some lilies bloomed in a month, one pleased with flowering by Christmas, and a few turned out to be “blind”. This whole story pleased me only by the fact that I did not plant bulbs with sprouts at the end of autumn directly into the ground. After all, then they would surely die. I don’t buy bulbs with sprouts anymore in the fall.

3. WINTERING ON A COLD BALCONY

I decided to once again plant lilies at home so that they bloom in winter or early spring. To do this, I selected large bulbs (I did this at the end of August when transplanting Asian hybrids that bloomed in June), planted them in buckets and left them on the balcony. The plan was this: in winter I will take them from the balcony, put them in a bright place, start pouring warm water, they will wake up faster and bloom. But my plans were not destined to come true - all my bulbs, which wintered well in the open field, froze safely on the balcony. The conclusion is this: if you want to do forcing, containers with bulbs should be lowered into the basement.

4. "DEAF" SHELTER FOR THE WINTER

It is not necessary to cover lilies for the winter. Bulbs in the ground are not afraid of frost, but excessive moisture, condensate, which accumulates under unventilated shelters, can harm them. Lilies need a dry winter. And it is very easy to arrange it - you need to put caps made of plastic bags over the plants, inverted buckets, or simply cover them with pieces of roofing material, slate, etc., and in early spring do not forget to remove all these structures.

5. RED BUGS-HE PESTS

In the spring, I found very pretty red bugs on my lilies. I didn’t touch them, but they ate my flowers, and even left voracious larvae that completely ruined the plants. It turned out that I was admiring the onion cracker, which is quite dangerous pest for lilies. You need to fight the ratchet with the help of insecticides.

In general, lilies are very hardy, hardy and grateful plants. With a minimum of attention and care, they delight with their flowering for a long time.

Lily - useful properties and recipes for use

A beautiful plant has been growing in my flower garden for a long time - White Lily. During flowering, it exudes a pleasant, rich aroma.

But this plant also has wonderful healing properties and the ability to maintain beauty. During flowering, its beautiful snow-white petals are collected (they require very little). And lily bulbs can be harvested both in autumn and early spring. Here are a few recipes that I use myself.

Mask for "velvet" skin

Pour 2 tbsp. l. fresh crushed white lily petals with a glass of boiling water. Let it brew for about an hour. Strain. 2 tbsp. l. dilute oatmeal with the resulting infusion to get a mushy mass. Add 1 tsp to the resulting slurry. honey, 1 egg yolk, mix. Apply the mask on cleansed, steamed face skin for half an hour, rinse with warm water. Then wipe the skin with the remaining lily infusion. Such a mask nourishes and moisturizes the skin, improves its firmness and elasticity, and lily infusion whitens the skin. After applying the mask, the skin will become velvety and tender.

Lotion for problem skin

Fill a third of a liter dark glass jar with crushed white lily flowers. Top up with alcohol. Leave for about two weeks. The resulting lotion can be used to wipe oily, inflamed skin with acne (after diluting the alcohol tincture in equal proportions with boiled water) or point-burn pimples and inflammation, apply a cotton pad soaked in lotion to abscesses and pustules.

Juice for bleaching

Squeeze the juice from two white lily bulbs. Mix with 1 tsp. lemon juice and 2 tsp. parsley juice. Lubricate with juice pigmented areas of the skin, traces of post-acne (skin changes due to a barely long acne), freckles.

Healing oil

Fill half a liter jar of dark glass with white lily petals and pour olive, linseed or peach oil (your choice). Infuse for three weeks in a dark place. With the resulting oil, lubricate very dry areas of the skin, irritated and damaged skin, seizures and cracks in the corners of the lips, dry, cracked skin of the hands (which often happens after working in the garden). The oil also heals wounds and burns on the skin.

Based on this recipe, you can make oil for massage, treatment of back pain: add 1 drop to 1 glass of white lily oil essential oils fir, eucalyptus, pine, carnation. With the resulting composition, you can rub sore joints, massage with back pain.

Boil two white lily bulbs for 10-15 minutes in 1 liter of water. Strain. The resulting decoction can be used to gargle a sore throat, after adding 1 tsp to one glass of decoction. honey. The decoction has an analgesic, expectorant and antimicrobial effect, so it can also be used orally for coughs and bronchitis. For internal use 1 tbsp. l. decoction and 1 tsp. dilute honey in a glass of boiled water and drink, divided into 3 doses (use inside only after consulting a doctor).

Apply gruel from a boiled white lily bulb to skin inflammations, boils, and non-healing wounds.

Yulia Sergeevna KUPINA

If the lilies are sick?

Lilies this year upset more than ever. Some do not bloom at all, the leaves have dried up, do not grow. On others, there are traces of pests: I can’t understand whether these are beetles, or the remains of them. What to do with lilies, can you help them?

Olga Lobova

The root cause of this state of lilies was, of course, frost. The temperature in April days sometimes dropped to -9 degrees, and the shoots of lilies were already on the surface of the earth. They had to be covered with at least a dense spunbond and kept like that until a positive temperature was established.

But who knew that spring this year would bring surprise after surprise. Immediately after the frosts, it was necessary to carry out foliar feeding with phosphorus and potassium, spray the plants with Epin (according to the instructions). All this must be done now, so that the plants are restored. As a result, weakened lilies have become the object of attack by pests, they are affected by viral and fungal diseases.

Note!

Of the fungal diseases, gray rot is the most dangerous, it is easy to determine by round brown spots on the leaves, which are converted into a slimy tissue with a gray coating. Summer rainy cold weather contributes to its spread. At the first sign of planting, they are treated with solutions of Bordeaux liquid, Fundazol or Oxychoma.

Fusarium is also dangerous when rot affects the bottom of the bulb. Now it is impossible to diagnose the disease, and if no measures are taken, the result will be the death of the bulb in the autumn-winter period. Spray lilies for the prevention of "Fundazol".

As never before this summer, onion and lily beetles, which are also called rattlesnakes, have become more active. To protect themselves from birds, they envelop the body with their excrement (the same blackness on the leaves that you write about) and the birds do not pay any attention to them (pictured).

You need to destroy them manually or by spraying the affected lilies with herbal infusion of wormwood. Pick up grass leaves during the flowering period and fill a bucket with them. fill with water room temperature. Insist for a day, then simmer for half an hour. Dilute with water (1:1) and spray.

Raisa RUTKOVSKAYA, lily breeder, Mogilev. Photo by Tatiana Sanchuk

Lily lanceolate (Lilium land folium) - information from the Encyclopedia of Flowers

Description.

This is the well-known tiger lily to all of us - a bulbous plant up to 1.5 m high. The leaves are sessile, lanceolate, located on well-leafed, slightly pubescent stems. Flowers of a beautiful chalmoid form, drooping, with characteristic spots on the inside of the petals, can reach 9 cm in diameter.

The inflorescence can have up to 30 flowers. They bloom in the middle of summer, and beautiful flowering continues for a month. There are varieties with yellow flowers, salmon orange and fiery red.

Agricultural technology.

This lily is quite unpretentious, in our conditions it is winter-hardy and does not require shelter. Better put her on open area protected from the wind. The soil prefers loose, fresh, fertile, slightly acidic or neutral. It does not tolerate areas with excessive moisture at all. Bulbs should be planted in autumn to a depth of 15-17 cm.

reproduction.

Propagated by bulbs that bloom in the third year.

Usage.

It is not difficult to find a place for this beautiful, touching lily in a summer cottage. Unlike its pompous grandiflora relatives, the lanceolate lily looks organic in any garden. It is good in itself, planted in small groups.

LILY: RULES FOR SPRING PLANTING

Lilies are not to be missed. But in order for them to grow, bloom and smell fragrant, you need to know a number of secrets. One of them is that without a transplant (every 4-5 years) the flowers degenerate.

Right place

I plant and transplant lily bulbs in spring and autumn. But there are strict rules: I transplant late flowering golden lilies and Henry lilies at the beginning of the season. But North American and Caucasian lilies are best planted from the second half of August to mid-September. In the spring, I plant the bulbs from the last decade of April to the beginning of May (it is important to complete the transplant before the buds appear). Bulbs bought in early spring with small sprouts are wrapped in several layers of newspaper and kept in the refrigerator until planting. If the sprouts are high, I temporarily plant the bulbs in a flower pot, and after the threat of frost has disappeared, I carefully transfer them to a hole in the garden.

An experienced florist told me that the sun at dawn and in the morning is important for lilies. I also take into account the color of the flowers: for example, my luxurious black lilies quickly fade in the sun. In the hot summer, the bulbs suffer from overheating, so I plant lilies next to low plants. The best soil is loose loam (by eye I add neutral peat and sand in equal parts). For digging (to a depth of 40 cm) for 1 sq.m I bring in a bucket of loose humus, a couple of glasses wood ash and complex mineral fertilizer for flowers (according to instructions). Fresh manure and semi-decomposed compost are not suitable!

Spacing between bulbs:

dwarf lilies -15 cm;
tall varieties of oriental and Asian hybrids - 50 cm;
tubular lilies - 35-40 cm.

There is one detail: young onions are best planted on less nutritious soil. In the future, the balance will be replenished by feeding.

LANDING

At the bottom of the holes I pour a small layer of sand. I plant lilies with supra-bulbous (stem) roots to a depth of 15-25 cm. Lilies with subbulbous roots - by 5-10 cm. I deepen snow-white candidum lilies by only 3-5 cm, and warm them with loose compost for the winter.

By purchasing new bulb, I don’t always know what type of root system it has. Then I follow the rule: the depth of planting the bulb is equal to three times its height.

How to grow beautiful lilies - video

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July is the time for lilies to bloom. Admiring them, flower growers often dream of propagating their favorite variety - there is never too much beauty. Fulfilling this dream is not at all difficult, there is not even one way.

Lilies. There is no such thing as too much beauty. A photo

After observing your favorite plant, you can easily choose the propagation method that will be more effective, more convenient and easier for a particular variety. And if in doubt - you can try everything.

Reproduction of lilies by daughter bulbs

Perhaps the easiest and most common way. Everything is simple here: we dig up a bush after flowering, carefully separate the small onions and plant them in a new place. If the children are very small, it is better to plant them for growing on a separate bed or in containers - they can “get lost” in the flower garden.

It is advisable to plant onions immediately after separation from the mother plant - in the air they wither very quickly, become flabby. Lilies grown from children bloom, usually in the second year, although large bulbs can please the flower in the first summer.

The method is universal. But he has one minus: not all types and varieties of lilies actively form daughter bulbs - there are those in which at best 1-2 children are formed per season. You can even determine how suitable this option is for your chosen one, even without digging: if young shoots appear at the base of the stem the next year after planting, these are the daughter bulbs. The more such sprouts - the faster you can propagate the flower.

Reproduction of lilies by division of the nest

It differs slightly from the previous method. A large lily bulb can divide, forming 2-3 full-fledged (though not very large) bulbs that bloom the next year. After 2-3 years, the nest becomes quite large and can be divided.

The method is generally universal. But it must be taken into account that the active division of the bulbs is not typical for all varieties. If a planted lily a year later pleased you with not one, but two or three stems-peduncles, and a year later turned into a large flowering bush, it can be successfully propagated by division.

Overgrown nests are dug up after flowering, the bulbs are carefully separated and planted in a new place. Next summer, such lilies will already bloom.

Reproduction of lilies with scales

This method can also be attributed to the universal - many types and varieties of lilies form bulbs on the scales. But its effectiveness depends on the specific plant. So, from experience I can say that Asian hybrids reproduce by this method much better than Eastern ones.

Many varieties of lilies reproduce successfully by scales. A photo

Plants obtained from these children will bloom only after 3-5 years, but from one bulb you can get a lot of planting material - from 1 to 4 "offspring" are formed on one scale. The reproduction of lilies with scales is described in detail in the master class.

Please note that bulbs obtained from scales are very small. They need to grow on a special bed or in containers. You can use this breeding method at any time - a suitable bulb would be at hand.

Reproduction of lilies by air bulbs

This method is suitable for those lilies that form buds (bulbs) in the axils of the leaves.

Bulbs in the axils of lily leaves. A photo

When ripe, they easily separate from the stem, and when they fall to the ground, they take root. Therefore, bulbous lilies often reproduce by such a kind of self-seeding. Collected bulbs are sown immediately in open ground (preferably in a seedling bed) or in containers. Well-developed bulbs are formed in 2-3 years.

Reproduction of lilies by seeds

This is the most laborious way; suitable mainly for species lilies. If you want to experiment on your own, keep in mind that when seed propagation not all varietal characteristics may be preserved. But freshly harvested seeds germinate better than purchased ones. It should be borne in mind that the speed of seed germination is different. Asiatic lilies are in the lead here too; the seeds of curly lily sprout the longest.

Lily seeds are harvested when the seed pods turn brown. Sow in a moist peat substrate or vermiculite and keep in the refrigerator until germination, and then planted in pots. It will take 5-8 years to wait for the result, therefore this troublesome method is not particularly popular, but it is still useful to know about this possibility.

How do you propagate lilies? Which method do you prefer and why?

You may also be interested in the publications:

Kind: lily
Flowering period: May, June, July, August, September, October
Height: 20-250cm
Color: white, yellow, orange, red, spotted, double color
perennial
hibernates
sun-loving
moisture-loving

Lily is an amazingly beautiful flower with a pleasant aroma, which was revered in many cultures. The Greeks attributed to her a divine origin, believing that the lily grew from the milk of Juno, the mother of the gods. And when literally translated from Greek, “li-li” sounds like “white-white”. The Romans revered her as the main flower at the festivities glorifying the goddess of spring Flora. Christians and Jews adorn their sacred altars with it, considering the lily a symbol of purity. This flower can be found on the coats of arms of noble families from different countries. Today, lilies adorn many parks and suburban areas, speaking bright accent in any flower garden. One of the prerequisites for the lush flowering of these marvelous plants is the proper planting and care of lilies.

By international classification These beautifully flowering perennial bulbous plants are divided into 9 groups:

Asian- include 5 thousand varieties. Differ in unpretentiousness and winter hardiness, flowers do not smell.
Curly- there are 200 varieties. The name was given due to the inflorescences resembling a candlestick with drooping heads.
snow white– includes 30 varieties. They have a marvelous aroma, may have a pale yellow color. Very capricious.
American- there are 140 varieties. The flowers are very original in bright exotic colors, often decorated with two-tone black specks. Pretty picky.
Longiflora- have an elongated bud shape with a direction to the side or down, Unusually fragrant. IN garden conditions often suffer from viral diseases, more are grown as greenhouse crops.
Tubular- have a characteristic flower shape resembling an elongated gramophone, assembled from dense wax petals. Capricious, need shelter for the winter.
Orientals (Eastern)- a large group has 1300 varieties. Capricious, demanding of warmth, often affected by diseases.
Interspecific hybrids- bring together best qualities individual groups. Extremely beautiful and exotic. Among the varieties obtained as a result of crossing, the most popular are LA hybrids, OT hybrids and LO hybrids with large flowers up to 25 cm in diameter for forcing.
natural views– play a key role in the creation of new varieties.

Under natural conditions, these herbaceous plants are ubiquitous in the temperate latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere: in the Mediterranean, southeastern Central America, Japan, and China. The most widespread in the middle latitudes are Asian lily hybrids.

Lilies are one of the most beautiful representatives of the bulbous genus. They belong to the family of daylilies and are relatives of onions, hazel grouse, tulips.

Asians are descended from natural species of Siberian lilies, such as Dahurian and Tiger, and therefore are the most winter-hardy and adapted to less favorable climatic conditions. Other groups of lilies, such as oriental, tubular or curly, require more careful care.

Among Asian hybrids, the most decorative varieties are:

"Marlene" - petals of a delicate pink hue. It is famous for its abundant flowering.
"Landini" is a spectacular maroon beauty over a meter high.
"Aphrodite" - a double flower with pink petals.

Of the old and time-tested varieties, it is also worth highlighting: "Inchantment" with flowers of a rich red-orange hue, "Destin" with delicate lemon-yellow petals, "Peprike" with bright red flowers.

Worthy representatives of the Oriental group can be considered: "Mona Liza" with graceful pale pink flowers, "Tiber" with lilac flowers framed by a white border, snow-white beauty "Siberia"

Selection of planting material

When choosing planting material, it is important to take into account the climatic features of the area, since not all lilies are able to painlessly endure temperature fluctuations.

When purchasing planting material, carefully inspect the bulb: for spots and traces of rot on it. These signs indicate the defeat of the plant by diseases. The bulb should be evenly colored, the scales should fit snugly against each other.

Labeling will help determine the varietal affiliation of a plant:

The first Roman numeral denotes the lily group;
The second number indicates the position of the flower ("a" - directed upwards, "b" - to the side, "c" - down);
The letter through a fraction indicates the shape of the flower ("a" - tubular, "b" - cupped, "c" - flat, "d" - chalmoid).

Until the moment of planting, it is better to store the bulbs in a cool place, sprinkled with sand, sawdust or wet moss. Some adapt the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for this purpose.

For spring planting, choose bulbs on which sprouts have already hatched and short white roots have started to grow.

In the case when the bulb begins to germinate ahead of time, it is advisable to plant it in a flower pot, leaving it in a warm room. It is worth replanting in open ground after frost.

Choice of landing site

When planning where to place an exotic beauty on the site, you should focus on her group affiliation. Tubular, Asian and Oriental lines are most decorative only in well-lit areas.

Lilies feel comfortable in partial shade, in which adventitious roots are located on the underground part of the stem. These include varieties of the group of curly lilies. It is desirable to place them so that the basal part is shaded, and the inflorescence is illuminated by the sun's rays.

Lily is a heat-loving plant that prefers well-lit areas, securely covered with a “screen” of green foliage from gusts of wind

Lilies with large flowers look spectacular in a solo performance. When planting small-flowered lilies, in order to obtain an expressive aesthetic effect, it is better to form small groups, placing them at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other. Against the background of the lush foliage of other perennials, bright elegant flowers will stand out favorably, creating a magnificent picture.

For planting flowers, areas located on a slight elevation are ideal. This helps to prevent stagnant rainwater, which often causes plant damage by pathogens. Waterlogged soils are detrimental to fastidious beauties. It is possible to improve conditions on clay and heavy loamy soils by arranging drainage. To do this, lay ditches, placing them at a slight slope. The bottom of the ditches is lined with a layer of crushed brick or small gravel, sprinkled with river sand on top and covered with earth.

So that the soil near the root area of the flower is in the shade and does not overheat under the sun's rays, it is better to plant daylilies, bells and hosts in the immediate vicinity. Their spreading foliage will cover the surface of the earth, creating optimal conditions for the development of fastidious beauties.

Proper soil preparation

Proper soil is 80% of success in growing lilies. Regardless of the group affiliation of the bulbous, they all prefer to grow on rich soils.

On peat enriched and well-drained soils, varieties of the American group and oriental hybrids develop well.

The best fertilizer for lilies is humus. But it should be applied with caution: with an excess of nutrition, the plants begin to “fatten”. This provokes their slowdown in development, a decrease in resistance to diseases and a decrease in frost resistance. The optimal ratio of the introduced humus is 7-8 kg per 1 sq.m.

The introduction of slightly decomposed manure containing pathogenic microflora with pathogenic plants can have a detrimental effect on plants.

The soil for these flowering herbaceous plants should contain a sufficient amount of nutrients, because in one place a plant can live from 3 to 5 years. When digging the soil, it is filled with mineral fertilizers, which include nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. They are applied at the rate of 100 grams per square meter.

Since the roots of plants go quite deep, the soil is dug up before planting, deepening by 30-40 cm. For drainage of heavy clay soil sand is added to its composition

Most representatives of the daylily family do not tolerate acidic soils, preferring slightly alkaline and slightly acidic soil compositions. On acidic, well-drained soil, only varieties of the eastern group feel comfortable. Asians and LA hybrids are more fond of neutral and humus soils, and tubular lilies show the greatest decorative effect on poor, slightly alkaline soil with impurities of ash and sand.

Help reduce soil acidity:

Wood ash - it is added at the rate of 150-200 g per 1 sq.m;
Chalk - when digging, 300-500 gr. are added per square meter.

Planting material processing

The bulbs are inspected before planting, discarding diseased specimens: damaged tissues are removed, rotten scales and dead roots are cut off.

The inspected material is washed under pressure for 20-30 minutes. Then, in order to prevent the development of fungal diseases, they are first kept in a solution of potassium permanganate, prepared in a proportion of 5 g per 10 liters of water, and then in a solution of the drug fundazol. If necessary, they can be pickled in an insecticidal solution based on chlorophos and 1% phosphamide.

The root system of these plants dries quickly enough. Therefore, after soaking, there is no need to dry them.

Choosing a planting time

The optimal planting time is after flowering plants. This is the period from late summer to mid-autumn. In the case of purchasing bulbs in early spring, planting can be done as soon as the soil thaws and dries. Late spring planting is risky because young shoots can be damaged.

Spring planting is also more suitable for late-flowering varieties, the bulbs of which are slowly formed. These include LO hybrids and varieties of the eastern group: Rio Negro, White Haven, Rialto, Marco Polo.

When planting plants, one should be guided by the rule that large bulbs with a diameter of 8-12 cm are planted to a depth of 25 cm, and small ones to a depth three times the size of the bulb itself.

The only exceptions are Halntsedonskaya, Snow White and Testaceum. They form an aboveground rosette of leaves, and therefore the soil layer above them should not exceed 2-3 cm.

When planting bulbs in heavy soil types, the bottom of the planting pits is covered with a 5 cm layer of sand. To protect them from voles, wire mesh is laid out along the inner walls of the landing pit.

The bulb is laid out on the bottom of the pit, set on an impromptu sand "cushion", and the roots are straightened. They cannot be twisted and bent up. The landing site is marked with a peg and sprinkled with earth, lightly tamping. The hole is abundantly watered with settled water and covered with bark mulch.

Lilies are very sensitive to dry roots. So that the bulbs do not become weathered while the hole is being prepared, it is better to wrap them in a wet napkin or hide them in a box with wet peat. Tender young sprouts are afraid of temperature changes

To protect young sprouts, planted bulbs are covered with plastic bottles with cut-out bottoms. For this purpose, it is better to use bottles with wide walls with a volume of 2-3 liters.

Subtleties in the care of an exotic beauty

How to care for lilies? To minimize the care of these flowering plants, you must follow a number of recommendations:

During the season, feed the plants with complex fertilizers and ash at the rate of 50 g per square meter. Top dressing is carried out in three stages: in early spring, at the stage of bud formation and after flowering. Suitable for spring root dressing: ammonium nitrate (40 g per 10 l), nitroammophosphate (50 g per 10 l), fermented mullein solution in a ratio of 1:10.
Ensure timely watering. Although the lily does not like excessive moisture, it needs especially dry days. frequent watering. You need to water under the root, trying not to moisten the leaves. Accidentally falling drops of water can serve as a kind of lens, causing sunburn.
Soil mulching. very harmful to bulbous plants and overheating of the soil, which disrupts the flow of biological processes. This can be prevented by mulching the soil with natural materials of light shades (cut grass, straw, sawdust).
Pest control. The lily beetle and the lily fly are dangerous for the aerial parts of plants. You can get rid of pests by collecting the larvae by hand and spraying the stems with preparations such as Thunder, Grizzly, Fly Eater.
Stem tie. Tall varieties with thin stems must be tied to supports, thereby preventing them from breaking off and lodging.
So that wilted inflorescences after flowering do not spoil the picture, they should be removed in a timely manner. Peduncles are removed at the end of the season.
After the end of the growing season, the stems of plants must be cut and burned in order to winter time they did not serve as a conductor of cold to the bulb.
For the winter, it is advisable to cover garden lilies with leafy soil, sawdust or spruce branches of conifers. Only Asian and LA hybrids do not need shelter.

Lilies are planted, separating the daughter bulbs, once every three years, one and a half months after the end of flowering. By this period, they had increased their mass and were gaining the greatest strength.

Slowly growing varieties of Caucasian origin are best planted only after 5-6 years. Asian varieties can be transplanted even in summer. The main thing is to dig up the plants with a garden pitchfork along with a clod of earth, preserving the root system.

When transplanting, baby bulbs are carefully separated from the stem and planted in seedling beds for growing. Immediately after planting, they are sprinkled with compost or manure humus, forming a layer 3-4 cm thick. Full-fledged bulbs will form from them in the second or third year.

Daylily - a lily for the lazy

No wonder breeders called these unpretentious and disease-resistant perennials "lilies for the lazy." And the statement that than prettier flower, the more capricious it is, it is not applicable to this plant. Daylily grows well in any garden soil, feeling comfortable both in bright sun and in partial shade.

Not inferior in beauty to garden lilies and their closest "relatives" - daylilies, but unlike fastidious beauties, they are very easy to care for.

Planting and caring for daylilies takes a minimum of time and effort. And the plant begins to delight with flowering in the first year of planting. These perennials prefer neutral to slightly acidic soil. They are able to grow on depleted soils, but they show the greatest decorative effect on loose loams rich in organic matter. They are tolerant of infrequent watering, but like lilies, they do not tolerate stagnant water.

Pairs well with ornamental grasses and beautifully flowering annuals, they perfectly mask the slow departure of spring-flowering bulbous

Daylilies can become a bright decoration of any flower garden. With the right selection of species that have different flowering periods, it will not be difficult to stretch the flowering of daylilies for the entire season.

As I promised, in this article I want to invite you to familiarize yourself with several of the most common ways lily breeding. Lilies can be propagated both by seed and vegetatively.

Lily breeding seeds is more complex and troublesome, it is usually used by breeders when breeding new varieties.

And among amateur flower growers, vegetative propagation methods are more common. Let's take a look at them.

The first way - with bulbs

This method is the simplest and all types and varieties can propagate. Its only drawback is the low multiplication factor.

3-4 years after planting, a whole “nest” of 4-6 bulbs is formed underground, which we dig, divide and plant each bulb separately. The number of bulbs formed can be easily determined by the number of stems.

The most optimal time for propagation by bulbs is autumn. But if necessary, it is possible to carry out separation and transplantation in the spring. Just pay attention to the fact that the height of the plants should be no more than 5-10 cm, otherwise they will not take root well.

Planted large bulbs will bloom already in the year of transplantation, since flower buds have already been planted in them since autumn. Small bulbs - only for the next year.

It is best to plant bulbs immediately after digging. If you do not have the opportunity to immediately plant the bulbs in a permanent place, then in order to prevent the roots from drying out, you need to temporarily dig them into moist soil or sprinkle them with a wet substrate (peat, sand).

The second way - onion-children

At the base of the stem of the lily, onion-babies are formed, the number of which depends on how deep the bulb itself is planted. It goes without saying that the deeper the planting, the greater the number of children formed.

Most varieties of lilies can be easily propagated by stem baby bulbs.

In order to increase the multiplication factor with this method, I recommend applying decapitation or, in other words, removing buds. Decapitation will lead to an increase in the bulb itself and the formation of children.

And you can do it even more radically: after decapitation, we carefully separate the stem with supra-bulbous roots from the bulb, plant it in the shade and water it abundantly. And on the underground part of the stem, by the autumn we have a very large baby.

The third way - with scales of bulbs

Each scale of a lily bulb is able to form new bulbs at its base. The third method of reproduction of lilies is based on these properties.

This is the method with the highest multiplication factor, since from 1 to 3-4 bulbs are formed on each scale, which means that from 1 adult bulb it is possible to get 15-150 new plants.

In time, it takes 2-3 years - this is the period from the moment of separation of the scales to the development of an adult plant. Lilies can be propagated in this way throughout the year, but still the best time for this is spring (the beginning of the growing season) and autumn - the period of digging and transplanting, and even later, before the soil freezes.

So what are our actions with this method of reproduction:

We wash the dug out bulb, by pressing the fingers we separate the scales at the base. For reproduction, we take from 1/3 to ½ of the bulb, since the outer scales are more productive. The remaining central part of the bulb can be planted in the ground.
For reproduction, we choose healthy large scales and without spots.
Then the scales are thoroughly washed in water and kept in a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate or a solution of any fungicide for 20-30 minutes.
In order to increase the multiplication factor, you can additionally keep the scales in a solution of zircon, epin or succinic acid for 12-16 hours.
Next, the scales are slightly dried and placed in small plastic bags, pouring them with a substrate (perlite, sphagnum moss) or sand. You can even just put the scales in bags without pouring anything.
We tightly tie bags with scales and put them in storage in a dark place for 6-7 weeks. The temperature should be 22-23 o C.
After that, for another 4 weeks during storage, it is necessary to maintain a temperature of 17-18 ° C.
Scales with small bulbs appearing at the base are now ready for planting. If it is not possible to plant immediately, then before planting we store them at a temperature of 4 ° C.
Those scales that we removed in the fall will be ready for planting in boxes in a greenhouse or in another bright room in February-March. And then we plant the seedlings in May-June in the ground.
If we were engaged in reproduction in the spring, then the bulbs, together with the scales, can be immediately planted in open ground.

When lilies are propagated by scales, already in the 2nd year after planting, about 50% of the plants bloom.

The fourth way - bulbs

Another good breeding material is air bulbous bulbs, which develop in the axils of the leaves of some lilies (especially Asian hybrids).

The efficiency of reproduction by buds (bulbs), as well as their number and size, depend on a number of conditions, such as:

features of a particular variety of lilies, for example, varieties Aelita, Kalinka, Pink Haze can form a large number of large bulbs, and varieties Sea Foam, Autumn Song, Polyushko give a very small number of small bulbs;
plant age than younger plant, the more kidney bulbs are formed;
abundance of flowering;
climatic conditions during cultivation, for example, more bulbs are formed in wet summers, and in some varieties of lilies they form only if the wet weather lasts for a long time;
applied agricultural technology, for example, with the help of decapitation, it is possible to achieve the appearance of buds even in some non-bulbous varieties, as well as increase their number and size in bulbous ones (we will achieve a greater effect if we remove the buds at the very beginning of their formation).

Bulbs usually form at the end of flowering, and when their formation ends, they crumble to the ground. It is at this time that they must be collected for sowing.

Bulbs can be sown immediately in open ground or in boxes and pots. If you want to plant in pots, then fill them to the brim with the substrate, then compact it a little to a level 1 cm below the edge of the pot and plant the bulbs, slightly pressing, on the surface of the substrate and sprinkle them with sand flush with the edges of the pot.

The distance between the planted buds should be about 2-3 cm. The bulbs planted in this way must be transferred to a cold greenhouse until next autumn.

Bulbs should be sown in open ground at a distance of 5-6 cm from each other in grooves 2-3 cm deep. The optimal distance between grooves is about 20-25 cm.

There are several more ways to propagate lilies (stem and leaf cuttings), but these four methods are the most common and, it seems to me, the most easily performed and accessible to us amateur flower growers.

See you soon, dear readers!

Reproduction of lilies: air bulbs, babies, division of bulbs and scales. For many gardeners, lilies are a favorite flower in the garden. And everyone wants as much as possible large quantity these flowers delighted him in the garden. But it often happens that not all amateur flower growers can afford to buy expensive lily bulbs.

But there is a way out: flower growers can propagate lilies on their own. And this is a certain experience in floriculture, and getting additional copies of your favorite plants, and of course saving your money to buy new ones.

After breeding a lily, you can exchange your bulbs with friends and acquaintances, thus obtaining new varieties and types.

This article is dedicated to the independent reproduction of lilies.

air bulbs
young kids
dividing the bulb nest
scaled bulbs

Reproduction of a lily by air bulbs

Some varieties of lilies (tiger, bulbous, sulphurous) form air bulbs. These are small bulbs that form in the axils of the leaves. H Some types of lilies give them twice a year (lily Sargent).

A large number of these bulbs appear on young lily stems.

To propagate lilies in this way, the following algorithm is used:

Bulbs are harvested from lilies from late August to early October
Planting boxes are prepared, which are filled with lightly moistened sand or garden soil with the addition of sand.
Bulbs are planted in a box at a distance of 5-10 cm from each other and a depth of 3-5 cm.
In winter, the boxes are cleaned in a cool dark place (basement, attic or balcony), where the temperature should not be below zero.
When spring comes, they are planted in open ground.
After 1-2 years, the bulbs become real bulbs, which can then be planted in a permanent place in the garden.

It is also possible to influence the appearance of bulbs in the axils of the leaves artificially. There are three ways to do this:

Spud the stems of the lily with earth and at the same time remove the buds and blooming flowers.
Bend the stem to the ground and also sprinkle it with earth.
Cut the stem from the base and put it in water for 40-60 days.

As a result of this, after some time, new bulbs are formed in the axils of the leaves, which are quite suitable for lily propagation. But not all species are subject to the artificial appearance of bulbs.

For this method, the following are best suited: long-flowered lily, bulbous, umbrella, saffron, white and Taiwanese. When transplanting a white lily during budding, a large number of bulbs are formed on its stem.

Reproduction of a lily by children

Another way to propagate lilies is to propagate with the help of its daughter bulbs (children). Some types of lilies give a large number of children (long-flowered lily, saffron, umbrella, golden, Sestroretskaya, white, etc.).

Once every 3-4 years (in autumn), the lily is transplanted to a new place. With this transplantation, the resulting babies are separated from it, which are then cultivated in the same way as air bulbs. As a result, full-fledged bulbs are obtained, suitable for the further cultivation of a new individual lily.

To determine the maturity of babies or bulbs, you need to touch them with your index finger. If the bulb separates easily and immediately, then it is ready for use. If not, then this indicates that the bulb or baby is not yet ripe. Therefore, with the reproduction of lilies, it is better to wait a little while.

If you deepen the planting of the lily, then after a while it will give more new daughter bulbs

Propagation of a lily by dividing the bulb

Lily reproduction is also carried out by dividing the nest of bulbs.

When propagating a lily by dividing the bulb, the following actions are used:

It is necessary to completely dig out the lily's nest with an earthen clod. Care must be taken not to damage the stems and roots.
Carefully cut off the stems of the plant at a distance of 15-20 cm from the root ball.
Clear the roots of the lily from the ground.
Carefully separate the whole bulbs from the nest with your hands without damaging them.
Cut the old roots with secateurs to the base of the bulb, and healthy ones - up to 16-20 cm.
All separated bulbs should be healthy, with a pleasant pinkish tint, without any rotting spots. If there are signs of decay, then such bulbs must be disposed of immediately.

It is important to remember: when propagating a lily by dividing the bulb nest, you need to work in shaded areas of the garden (or on the veranda) and avoid sunlight.

Selected bulbs for planting should be placed in a dark place. They should be covered with a damp cloth (preferably gauze), which is periodically moistened.

The resulting bulbs are planted immediately in a permanent place in the garden.

Reproduction of a lily by scales of a bulb

Many types of lilies propagate using scales that form on the surface of the bulb, at its base.

Propagation of lilies with bulb scales:

From the main lily bulb, you need to break off a few scales. From one bulb, you can take no more than a third of all scales, then you can be sure that you will not harm the plant. For better rooting, scales that are closest to the bottom of the bulb are suitable.
Then a planting container (pot or box) is prepared. Fill it with a substrate, which consists of a mixture of earth for seedlings and sand (3: 1).
Scales are planted in a container: small holes are made, where scales are placed to a depth of 2/3 of their height, and then they are sprinkled on top with a substrate.
The container is either covered with a transparent lid or covered with a film.
It is necessary to maintain the required level of humidity in such a greenhouse. To do this, every time the soil dries, the greenhouse must be sprayed with water.
The planting container is placed in a warm place, avoiding direct sunlight.
After small roots and babies (1-3 months) form on the scales, each of them must be transplanted into a separate container with a sandy substrate.
Keep the scales in this state until next spring at a temperature of +5 to +10 degrees.
In the spring, the babies are separated from the scales and planted in a certain place in open ground, where they will be growing.
After 1-2 years, the children become full-fledged bulbs and can be planted in a permanent place in the garden.

Need to know:

When tearing off the scales, it is not necessary to dig out the entire bulb. You can simply remove some of the soil on the sides and pull out a few scales.
Torn off scales can be stored for up to 5 months in a cool and dry place.
Lilies obtained from scales bloom no earlier than the 3-4th year.
Some types of lilies form few scales at the base of the bulbs. To propagate such lilies, it is better to use a different method.

When using one of the four lily propagation methods, you will end up with a large number of new and healthy specimens for your garden.

Good luck in floriculture!