Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Easter Lilies- how to care for them once you get them home
Easter lily buds will continue to open for the next few weeks once it's in your home.  The Anthers (the puffy yellow part on top of the Stamen) should be pulled off to prevent staining of the lily bloom.  This process will also make the bloom last longer.  They prefer to be in a cool window in bright indirect natural light.  Water the soil when it feels dry, but let the water drain from the pot freely. 
As the white blooms wither, cut them off at the stem.  In about 2 to 4 weeks, the plant will be just a stem with a few leaves on it.  It's time to plant it outside at that point.

Since lilies are natural outdoor plants, their normal blooming period is in the summer.  They are perennial bulbs that will enjoy being planted outside in a sunny spot in your garden.  The bulbs will divide and multiply as any lily would.  The blooms may grow a little smaller than when you received it for Easter.  They'll look nice with some Asiatic lilies and Stargazers combined.  Since your Easter lily has been forced to bloom, it's first summer may produce very little, if any signs of major growth. 

This is a Lily "BUD CARD".  It's a lot like a ruler, with a bunch of numbers on it.  Growers use these to measure the rate in which the bud will open.  For example, see the small yellow dot at the tip of the bud.  You'll see a number 2.   Then follow the graph to the other small yellow dot, it says 21C or 70F- this means that this bud will open in 2 days if the greenhouse temperature is 70 degrees.  The lower the temperature, the longer it will take to open.  If the crop is opening up too quickly (really sunny warm days) we move all the plants to a cooler greenhouse.  This process is repeated every single day for the few weeks before Easter/ shipping.
History:
Easter Lilies (Lilium longiflorum) have been the favorite flower of Easter for centuries.  The solid white flowers represent purity, life and renewal.  The flower’s trumpet shape is a reminder of the heralding of Jesus, returning triumphant to Jerusalem.
 
According to Biblical scholars, the Easter Lily was found growing in the Garden of Gethsemane where Judas is said to have betrayed Jesus. Legend tells that white lilies miraculously sprung up from the ground where drops of Jesus’ sweat and tears fell during his last hours.
In early paintings, the Archangel Gabriel is pictured extending a branch of white lilies to Mary, symbolizing that she had become the virgin mother to the savior.
Native to the islands of Japan, White Lilies were imported to the United States until 1941, when Americans were prompted to start growing their own bulbs due to the war.  Today, nearly all of the 15 million Easter Lily bulbs grown in America are produced by just 4 farms along the California-Oregon border. The bulbs are harvested in the fall, and then shipped to commercial greenhouses in Michigan, California, Pennsylvania and Ohio, where they are planted in time to bloom for Easter.

Dan Schantz Farm and Greenhouses, LLC is responsible for growing 300,000 Easter lilies produced in the United States. 



I had help from these links
 
 
 
 

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