A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2003 Brand new gardener here !

Hi people. How is everyone today?
I'm pretty good too !(I'll just assume and hope you're OK)I don't have a digital camera yet so I can't send photos, but I have this plant that I believe is an Easter lily (only because my wife received it a couple of Easters ago). Are you supposed to throw these away when the blooms fall off? I did,nt and now I have this tree thing about two feet tall and not a leaf on the bottom! Beautiful leaves on top though. Ok. Here's my description: The trunk(or stem,I'm not sure of the terms yet)is thin but strong, with ridges about every 1/4 inch. At the top the leaves have sprouted from these ridges.
The leaves are about 4 inches long and very narrow. They are green with a red edge around them.
I say I'm new because in the last couple of months I've just started too CARE about these plants I have around here. So I hope someone can help. Sorry to have rambled on. I'll be back, thanks.

Hi and welcome to The Garden Helper Wally. Is your lily still in a pot? Keep watering it...since it seems to want to grow....you never know, it just might bloom again. Of course lillies are perennial and you might want to think about putting it in a full sun location in your yard. They do however require a cold dormant period of refrigeration before they will bloom (which it would get during the winter).

Good luck
Barb
barbsblooms@shaw.ca

My mother's gardens were all dotted with the Easter Lilies that she got from us every year. Every year they got bigger and better! Some people seem to regard seasonal plants like Easter Lilies, as disposable plants. I think that's a terrible waste. Please keep "caring" about your plants and find a nice home in the garden for your lily. Every new year that you wife sees it growing there, she can remember who gave it to her.... and thank the guy who kept it alive for her...

Thanks Bill, for your reply.
I would gladly give it a garden treat but I live in an apartment without a private balcony so I really can't plant any of my plants outside. I also don't get any direct sunlight at all so I'm thinking 'Maybe I should give this lily to a good home and buy something that can live in the near dark'.
What do you think?
Is there anything I can I grow in this dingy climate, or should I just go back to fishing as a hobby?
Thanks again, Wally

Hi Wally
Bill is right, Easter lillies are meant to "come back" every year, just like several of the other holiday gift plants. Not only do I have discarded (by others) Easter lillies in my gardens, I also have chrysanthemums, gardenias, miniature roses, and a beautiful poinsetta. All were "gift plants". Many people just don't have the time or patience to give them that extra care. (Or maybe in this disposable society we have, they just don't care) It's great that you DO care! I would guess that your lily probably won't bloom if you can't give it any sunlight at all, but it still may grow and be healthy. It sounds like it's healthy now...In any case, don't despair! There ARE plants that will thrive in your "dingy" conditions, unless you're in say, a basement with absolutely no windows! (and then there's always mushrooms ) A few examples - ferns, pothos, calathea, spathyphillum (that's probably spelled wrong, AKA peace lily), rubber tree, are just a few that come to mind, I'm sure others here can give you even more ideas. So go your favorite nursery or plant place, (if you don't have a fav yet go to them all ), buy at least one of each of these for your wife, (she'll REALLY think about you alot then) and start your indoor garden! As far as the fishing thing - get one of those half whiskey barrels, make it into an indoor pond (it's easy), put in a goldfish or two, and that can be your new fish hobby! No fishing in that pond tho, ok?

Nikkal