Question:
Q. Is it better for an Easter Lily to be transplanted into a larger container or into the ground? Also, when is the best time to transplant them?
Answer:
Easter Lilies could be transplanted now; however, I’d leave them in their current container and transplant next year. They’re not an evergreen so they’ll be going dormant in four to six weeks. Easter Lilies are forced into bloom for the holiday. Their normal blooming period is June through July. I’d water and feed the lily like any other blooming plant. When the foliage turns yellow, stop watering them and let it go dormant. Next, I’d store the container in a dry location when the foliage easily separates from the soil. Their transplant it into the open ground or into a eight or ten inch container next February or March. Easter Lilies like a semi-shady location and amend the soil generously with organic matter. They’re a good companion plant with Blueberries, Azaleas, Camellias, ferns and other shade plantings. Unlike a Poinsettia, forcing an Easter Lily into bloom is a very challenging task and unpractical for most gardeners. A Poinsettia is an evergreen plant while an Easter Lily is a dormant bulb. Day length triggers the bloom with a Poinsettia while an Easter Lily requires a lighted, heated structure to waken the dormant bulb. In addition, Easter is never the same date while Christmas is always December 25, so you’re forcing schedule is different each year. Next year, Easter is April 16. The biggest issue with planting lilies in the ground is that the bulbs may rot in between growing seasons so I’d keep them in containers.
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Question:
Q. We bought a five-gallon pine tree last Christmas. We now want to transplant it into a larger container or should we wait. Also, how might we keep it from getting too big?
Answer:
There is no need to waiting as they can be transplanted now. You should select a large container, about the size of a half a wine barrel or twenty-four by eighteen inch lightweight plastic pot. Most of the pine trees used as living Christmas trees are not small trees by nature. When mature, these rapidly growing evergreen trees can reach a height of fifty to eighty feet with a wide spread. The young growth of the plant is groomed or sheared to have that ‘Christmas Tree’ shape. However, they will lose this shape quickly as they mature. Their natural shape is more oval or round. You can control the size by trimming the new growth or ‘candle growth.’ The ‘candle growth’ is the long, very upright shoots that is visible in the spring. They will extend above the mature needles at the end of the branches. With a pair of hand shears, I’d cut the new growth off where the new growth meets the old. Eventually, your tree will need to be planted in the ground but it may be to big for most of todays smaller yards.
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