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Talkback: How to deadhead lilies

I have just bought some lily bulbs and planted them in pots. They are growing very well and hopefully will enjoy their beautiful flowers soon. I always visit this site and read all informations regarding plants and try to apply it to my garden. As a beginner this feature is very useful and encouraging to me. I have now started to have confidence to grow any plants in my garden with the useful guides and information on this site. Thank you very much and CHEERS to Gardeners World.
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  • Thanks for all the great advice. We still have a great display of lillies in our pots. I am deadheading regularly. What next? When should I cut them down and what do I do with them over the winter?
  • do lillys only flower once ? I have three tubs of lillys two tubs the heads are going black the other tub is very green and looks as though it may flower again ,should i just dead head all three tubs?
    Lorraine
  • i was given 6 sky scraper lilly bulbs by my mother in law. not really knowing wot to do with them, i planted all 6 together in a very large tub and waited. to my suprise they all grew and i have had a wonderful array of colour all summer. now all the petels have dropped off, im not sure wot to do next. do i cut them down or do they die back on there own? wot do i do with them over the winter? any advice would be greatfully recived. :-) x
  • looking at the picture it looks as though you are cutting back down the stem below all the flowers. If I were to do this I would be cutting of atleast 12" of my plant.

    Should I just cut off just below each flower
  • InkadogInkadog Posts: 492
    Two of my tiger lilies have snapped off just above ground level while still in bloom. Have I lost the bulbs, or will they ever flower again?
  • Hi, lillies are very forgiving and will shoot up in spring despite neglect(thank the Lord!)

    I grow them in large pots on the patio purely to control the slugs and snails and also so I can enjoy them from the house in bad weather. I just wish I could control the dreaded lily beetle! I generally leave the stalks and leaves till they die down as I hope the bulbs will benefit. I give them a slow release feed in the spring and have never been disappointed. So chill, you'll have real beauties next year. They do not need any protection in winter(I am in the SE) although, occasionally I do top up the pots with spent compost.

  • one thing to remember when dead heading lilies or in fact coming into contact with them is to be mindful that the stem ens will leave a nasty mark on you with their pollen.If they do best to brush off lightly do not wet.dead heading is just taking off the old head and beware of that dreaded imageLilly beetle or you will have no lilies next year!

  • lynn blynn b Posts: 1

    i have 18 tree lillies that flowered beautifully, now the petels are dying off and im not sure how or where to dead head them. nor wether i have to cut them down to ground level when they die back completely. any advise.

  • I always understood that you should not leave the seed pod on after flowering, just break it off and leave the stems to die back like you should all bulbs, to put back the goodness into the bulb. It works for me and my 5 pots of different varieties always flower well every year. But after flowering is the time to feed the pots/plants as it's taken a lot of energy to produce such beautiful blooms.

  • I have 3 lilies in a pot, not sure what sort, but they grow up to a metre and flop, I stake them but it spoils their natural beauty, I gave them a drop of tomato feed every few weeks, could that bd why?

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