After-Bloom Care

• Easter lilies are ready for planting after they stop blooming and once all spring frost danger passes in your area. The flowers usually fade several weeks before it's safe to transplant the lily outside. Keeping the plant in a sunny window helps the foliage remain healthy during its time indoors. The lily also needs regular irrigation so the soil doesn't dry out. Watering when the top inch of soil begins to dry provides the necessary moisture to keep the roots and foliage healthy until you transplant the lily.
  
  

Site Selection

• Lilies grow and flower best in a bed that receives six or more hours of direct sunlight. Avoid beds with poor draining soils or where water pools on the surface after watering. Beds rich in organic matter provide the best soil moisture conditions and some nutrients to the Easter lilies. Amending the bed with a 2- to 3-inch layer of compost and working it into the soil before you plant helps improve the amount of organic matter in the bed.
  
  

Planting Method

• Setting the lily outside in a protected area for a week before transplanting helps the plant adjust to outdoor growing conditions. Lilies grow from a bulb, which lift easily from the pot. The roots that emerge from the bulb may suffer some damage when you remove the plant from the pot but the damage is rarely severe enough to hurt the plant. The top of the bulb requires a planting depth that places it 6 inches beneath the soil surface. The lily needs the foliage and stems to collect nutrients and establish in the garden bed, but you can remove the old wilted flowers.
  
  

Lily Maintenance

• Fertilization and regular watering helps the Easter lily fully establish in the summer garden. The soil must remain moist without becoming soggy. A general-purpose, slow-release fertilizer applied at transplanting provides enough nutrients for the summer season. Easter lily bulbs usually survive the winter if mulched heavily. In areas where the ground remains frozen all winter, you can dig the bulbs after the plants go dormant in fall and store them indoors in a cool area until replanting the following spring. Plants rarely bloom again the first summer after planting and instead begin flowering regularly the next year.