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Bulbs/after bloom care of lilies
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Question
After the star-gazer lilies finish blooming, do the stems and leaves have to be left until they dry up, to feed the bulb for next year? Or can they be cut down soon after?
Lilies, unlike Tulips and other Spring bulbs, must be left to grow for the rest of the season. These plants are VERY needy post-bloom. Simply cutting the stem so that you can put a bloom in a vase deprives the plant of a dozen leaves or so that it really does need. Remember, plants make their OWN energy, from the Sun; you can't make up for this by feeding them more, or watering them better.
Unlike Tulips and Spring bulbs, too, these do not come cheap. A Tulip bulb can be had for 50 cents. Lilies go for $3.50 to maybe $25-30 if you're really nuts (as I am) or even more (which I am not).
You must be very, very careful about how you treat these bulbs. Replacing them in quantity is expensive. Want to avoid that? Let them grow, water as you would any other plant in active growth, and let them die back naturally in the Fall. Do not cut them down.
THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER
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Long Island Gardener
Expertise
Growing Tulips? Dahlias? Daffodils? Gladiolus? It doesn't get easier than bulbs and tubers. Once in a while, something goes wrong: The dreaded Narcissus Bulb Fly, which resembles a honeybee. Mosaic virus, which can ignite a field of tulips in a single season. Nematodes, lurking underground. Here on the North Shore of Long Island, the garden is full of surprises. If you live in the Northeast/Atlantic Coast, I can help you pick the right bulb for every season, indoors and out, and help you fertilize, bloom and harvest for home or work. How: I have degrees in related fields, but my best understanding is all learned from trial and error. For most of my 53 years I have been gardening somewhere. No matter what the problem, I've learned the best answers are always Organic -- Earth friendly, less expensive, healthier for people and pets, easier and cleaner than toxic liquids and powders that big chemical companies sell so smoothly.
Experience
Besides degrees in related fields, and a few favorite horticultural societies, I work as a docent at our local botanical gardens -- but it's the years of work in the garden that's the real test.
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