Stately white Easter lilies are an ageless symbol of purity, grace and hope. Send your Easter wishes with this springtime favorite known for its dazzling white trumpet blooms and mild, sweet scent.

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Easter Lilies- the Symbol

Lilies are buried in the earth, and emerge with new life and beautiful blossoms.    Lilies and spring flowers that grow from bulbs- like daffodils and tulips- are symbols of joy, new life, new hope - and the resurrection of Jesus.  The bulb symbolizes the tomb of Jesus, and the flower blossoms symbolize his life after death.

The Easter lily, the plant we think of most when we think of Easter, is not naturally a spring flower.  Florists force them under controlled conditions to blossom in time for Easter.  The beautiful, white, trumpet-shaped, fragrant, majestic flowers are a perfect symbol for a beautiful, flawless Savior.

Lilies are often called the "white-robed apostles of hope."  Legend has it that beautiful white lilies sprung up in the Garden of Gethsemane where drops of Christ's sweat fell to the ground in his final hours of sorrow.  Churches continue this tradition of Easter Lilies at Easter time by decorating alters and crosses with masses of Easter Lilies, to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and the hope of life everlasting.

Symbolizing the very essence of Easter, Easter lilies given as gifts or enjoyed in your own home are a beautiful reminder that Easter is a time for rejoicing and celebrating!

Easter Lilies- the Origin

Easter Lilies- in Your Home

Temperature:  Easter Lilies like moderately cool temperatures-  60^o to 65^o F. during the day, with slightly cooler night temperatures. Avoid placing Easter lily plants near drafts, or exposing lilies to excess heat or dry air from appliances, fireplaces or heating ducts. 

Light: Put Easter Lilies in a bright window, but avoid direct sunlight.

Water: Easter Lilies enjoy moderately moist, well-drained soil. Water lily plants thoroughly when the soil surface feels dry, but avoid over-watering. 

As Easter Lily flowers mature, remove the yellow anthers before the pollen starts to shed. This gives longer flower life, and prevents the pollen from staining the white flowers. 

Easter Lilies- In Your Garden

To plant Easter Lilies in your garden, prepare a well-drained bed in a sunny location with rich, organic matter. Use a well-drained planting mix, or a mix of one part soil, one part peat moss and one part perlite. Lilies need good drainage.  To give adequate drainage, raise the garden bed by adding good soil to the top of the bed.

Plant the Easter Lily bulbs 3 inches below ground level, and mound up an additional 3 inches of topsoil over the bulb. Plant bulbs at least 12 to 18 inches apart in a hole sufficiently deep so that the bulbs can be placed in it with the roots spread out and down. Spread the roots and work the prepared soil in around the bulbs and the roots, leaving no air pockets. Water thoroughly.

Lilies like their roots in shade and their heads in the sun. Mulch, or plant a ground-cover for a "living mulch."   Easter Lilies with violas or primulas planted underneath are a beautiful combination.  As the original plants begin to die back, cut the stems back to the soil surface. 

Easter Lilies are hardy even in cold climates, but provide winter protection by mulching.  Remove the mulch in the spring to allow new shoots to come up.  Easter Lilies, while forced to bloom under controlled conditions in spring, bloom naturally in the summer.  Look for beautiful, fragrant lily blooms next year in June or July. 

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet..... Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."