I have been busy, busy, busy for the last few days. I was out of town over the weekend, but came home to a package of asiatic lilies I had ordered waiting for me. I was able to get them planted yesterday afternoon, and I can’t wait until they begin to bloom.

If you have never planted lilies, you should really give them a try. I have grown both asiatic lilies and oriental lilies. I like the asiatic lilies for their early bloom and height. Asiatic lilies grow to around three feet tall, so they don’t usually have to be staked to keep them upright. Asiatic lilies start to bloom here in late May to early June. Asiatic lilies come in a variety of colors, but the ones I chose are a mixture of pinks and whites.

For beauty with a bonus you can’t beat oriental lilies. Oriental lilies have a wonderful fragrance that just fills the air. Unlike asiatic lilies oriental lilies can grow quite tall. Some varieties can grow as tall as seven feet. This means staking if you want to keep them upright. My oriental lilies start blooming around the first of July.

The lilies we call Easter lilies are actually trumpet lilies. If you receive lilies for Easter, you can plant these in your garden after they finish blooming. Easter lilies as you probably know, are also wonderfully fragrant. Easter lilies that you purchase are forced to bloom at Easter, but if planted in your garden they will bloom between the time the asiatic lilies and the oriental lilies bloom.

Another variety of lilies you might enjoy are the orienpet lilies. The orienpet lilies are hybrids of the oriental and trumpet lilies. They are also wonderfully fragrant. Orienpet lilies usually bloom a couple of weeks before the oriental lilies.

I have heard it said that lilies like their heads in the sun and their feet in the shade. Because of this it is good to plant a low growing plant at the base of your lilies to shade the ground. Lily bulbs should be planted as soon as possible after receiving them, as the bulbs tend to dry out easily. The only other special requirement lilies have is good drainage, the bulbs will rot if the ground is continually wet.

It doesn’t matter which lily you chose, you will enjoy years of beautiful blooms. If you need lilies in your garden you should find enough choices of beautiful lilies from Jackson and Perkins or Spring Hill Nursery or BloomingBulb.com to satisfy your desire for lilies.