The trumpet lily left over from Easter celebrations can thrive, especially if you're living in Zone Five areas like the Champlain or lower Connecticut River valleys, if you plant it outdoors.
Wait till May when the weather is a bit warmer then choose a protected spot with well-drained soil and full sun.
Trumpet lilies will bloom in summer and should last a couple of years in your garden.
Two other lily varieties - Oriental lilies and Asiatic lilies - grow quite well in Vermont, too.
The Oriental lily variety grow up three to four feet tall, with flat flowers, usually pastel in color and are known for their knock-your-socks-off, heady fragrance.
Try planting hearty or types in your landscape. These should come back year after year and make great cut flowers.
A variation of the Oriental lily is called, "O.T." or "," which is a cross between the Oriental and trumpet lilies.
The O.T. produces a plant that's bigger, has larger flowers, more trumpet-shaped flowers and still has that heady fragrance.
Another type, known as the , is the earliest bloomer, easy to grow and grow a bit shorter.
These lilies are very hearty and come back year after year and feature upward-facing, brightly colored flowers in orange, red and yellow hues. These make beautiful cut flowers, too.
Something to consider as you choose lilies to add to your landscape is the pest that can thwart your plants.
The red lily leaf beetle can throw a wrench into the works but thankfully, they are fairly easy to control.
This beetles comes around in the spring as soon as the lily shoots come out of the ground.
Then the beetle starts munching on lily leaves. Soon the beetle lays eggs which turn into slug-like masses that also consume all the lily leaves.
Planting some resistant lily varieties is one way to cut the beetle off at the pass.
Types like and , which come armed and ready not to succumb to the lily leaf beetle
If you have other lily varieties in your landscape, you can deal with the beetle by spraying them with neem oil and that will kill them.
Another method is to start early in the season, and look for the red beetles on your plants. Once you locate them, drop them in a pail of soapy water.
As the season progresses, check on the underside of the lily leaves for the orange eggs and squish those to rid your plants of the beetle for good.
Q: What bulbs and tubers should I use on an almost completely shaded front porch? It gets early morning sun but then nothing after that. The porch roof intervenes and most of the porch has North exposure. - Priscilla, in Middlebury
A: Summer bulbs and tropical bulbs that you plant now will bloom in the middle to end of summer.
You could plant them into the ground near your porch where there isn't much sun or try to plant them in containers..
have beautiful, colorful leaves with no significant flowers so they would do well in shade.
If you use a large container, you can try . They won't get too big in a container but it is another nice beautiful foliage plant that does well in a shady spot.
Even might do okay, growing without many flowers nice contrasting leaves.
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