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Step 1
Planting your lilies in the right place can make all the difference in the world. Ideally, lilies do best in an area with a lot of natural drainage. They also need a lot of sun, so make sure you plant them in an area where they won't be in the shade too much. Too much shade will cause them to lean as they try to find the sun.
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Step 2
Bulbs do the best when they are kept cool, so plant your bulbs in the late fall or early winter, but before the ground is frozen. After the lilies come up, keep their bulbs and roots in the shade by planting other flowers and plants around them. Planting the bulbs between 4 and 6 inches deep will also help to keep them cooler. You can also use a covering of mulch to insulate them.
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Step 3
Only lilies planted in extremely poor soil require fertilizer. If you're going to fertilize, put it on once when the green begins to emerge, and once about a month later. Over-fertilizing is more dangerous then not fertilizing at all, though.
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Step 4
After the lilies have flowered, cut off the flower just below the head. Leaving as much of the green as you can will help the bulb. After several seasons, you should have enough of a bulb to split small bulbs from the main bulb and start a new plant.
