A familiar face in an unfamiliar setting can often cause confusion. This understandable reaction can happen with gardeners and their plants just as easily as with any other scenario.
Currently with so many exotic and seasonally showy horticultural products in the environment, it is challenging to keep up with all the blooms. Even so there are some ornamental plants which have longstanding popularity in panhandle Florida and many other places.
The Easter Lily is a good example of a flower seen potted during the early spring holiday and then ignored for the remainder of the year. Lilium longiflorium, as the plant is botanically known, is sometimes planted in the landscape among other ornamentals and left to its fate.
Wild Easter Lilies bloom in random locations across north Florida. This exotic plant has adapted well to the mostly inviting environment in the sunshine state. When dormant, its bulbs can easily be transplanted to other locations. Fortunately, it not considered an invasive species.
Surprisingly hardy, it will flourish in the warming temperatures of spring and summer and may continue to bloom. If planted outside, this resilient lily will easily withstand the winter temperatures in north Florida.
For the best results, soil for the Easter Lily should be moderately well drained and rich in organic matter.
Those plants sold in retail establishments for Easter were held under specific conditions in greenhouses and “forced” to bloom for holiday sales.
These lilies grow better if located in a sunny location. Easter lilies are propagated commercially by planting their bulbs, and these can be found locally at garden centers early in the year.
Plants grown in the home landscape can be divided and spread. This low-cost method takes time and some work, but it is usually successful, keeping the domestic budget intact.
Easter lilies also produce seeds with their blooms. This is usually how the robust plant with the large white flower will turn up in some unexpected and unusual places.
This native of Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands in east Asia’s maritime region, it arrived in the U.S. during the early part of the 20th Century. During this period a wide range of exotic plants were imported to meet the demand for new floral options in public and private landscapes.
As with many plants taken out of their native range, some escaped into the wild. Fortunately, in this case the potential to be an invasive pest was nonexistent.
Still, the seeds of this ornamental plant can be transported by wind, water and animals. Germination is dependent upon the seeds settling in a hospitable spot with plenty of sun exposure.
As with most plants, once the first specimen is established some seeds from succeeding years will sprout. These perennials will form a collection or bunch of the lilies which are hard to miss when in bloom during summer.
The lilium genus has over 100 members, and this offers an opportunity for the amateur plant breeder. Pollen from the Easter Lily can be transferred to other lilies in the landscape to form hybrid seeds.
The results can produce some attractive surprises for the patient person. At least the location should be familiar even if the hybrid’s color scheme is not.
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