The Garden Club of the Middle Peninsula
Essex, King & Queen, King William, & Middlesex Counties
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Horticulture

Tips on How to Successfully Exhibit Horticulture
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Judging Horticulture
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Daffodil Planting Notes
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TIPS ON GROWING LILIES FOR A LILY SHOW

Our GCV program last fall on growing lilies was the final say on how to plant them in "prepared" beds---preparing the soil in September or October and planting in November when the bulbs arrive. Plant lilies 1 1/2 times the height times the width, times the depth of the bulb---spaced out in groups or rows. Always label each lily cultivar and draw a map of the design area for bloom time next year. Then you can travel with a "labeled" lily to the Lily Show.

To plant lilies in a pot, find the largest composite-material pot you can lift or afford! Place the pot on a rolling dolly before you fill or try to lift it. We prefer a south-eastern exposure, near a house or in a spot where the plants will receive full sun, but protection from cold and wind. Fill the bottom third of the pot with pea-gravel and small rocks. Add a covering of part sand and part garden soil, then start the first layer of lily bulbs. (All one kind or type, like Eyeliner or yellow LA-hybrids works best.) Add more soil, mixing in finely ground leaf-compost. Add another layer of lilies. Keep on going with the leaf compost and soil/sand mix, plus more and more lilies until 7 inches from the top of the pot. Top off the pot with Miracle Grow and chopped leaves mixed together like topping for coffee-cake. You will have a mighty FRUIT-CAKE-of-a-pot, full of lilies. In June you should win lots of prizes at the Middleburg Lily Show or blow the socks off your guests at summer cocktail parties near your south-eastern deck or patio.

(Courtesy Laura Anne Brooks, NALS Lily Judge)
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