How to Plant an Easter Lily Outdoors

Giving lily flowers at Easter is a long standing tradition in the Christian faith. The significance of the white lily as Easter flowers varies, but in general, the pure white Easter lily conveys hope and life. The highly fragrant Easter lily, also called Lily Longiflorum or Snow Queen Lily, blooms in the spring and can reach 2-3 feet in height. The flowers of the Easter lily are white trumpet-shaped that can reach up to 7 inches and appear off a single stalk. The Easter lily can continue to bloom for weeks. If you live in zones 3-8 (see Resources, below, for the USDA hardiness zone map), you can plant the Easter lily flowers outdoors, where it can grow and bloom for years to come.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Continue to regularly water and care for your Easter lily as you enjoy its beauty and fragrance. After danger of frost has past, you can plant your Easter lily outdoors, but why not enjoy the blooms indoors until they have finished, whether or not the last frost is past?

2. When you are ready to plant outdoors, pick a sunny location for your Easter lily. The lily grows from a bulb and bulbs should be planted 2-3 times deep as the bulb is tall. That means from the top of the ground to the top of the bulb. In the case of a lily bulb, that could mean the top of the bulb would be about 6 inches below ground level. You don’t have to separate the potting soil from the bulb; and if it does separate, that‘s okay. In fact, you can add the potting soil to the hole.

3. Water regularly. As all spring blooming flowers do, your Easter lily will die back during summer, but will return in the spring.

Resources

• USDA hardiness zone map