True lilies are beautiful, easy to grow

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin. And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." (Matthew 6:28-29)

Scholars differ as to the plants the above biblical scripture refers to, but certainly lilies are worthy of the accolade. With their large, trumpet-shaped blossoms that seem to tout their own beauty, they are striking flowers wherever they grow.

Lily is a common name that in our day refers to several different plant species. Many — such as the daylily, calla lily, peace lily, toad lily, voodoo lily, stink lily and surprise lily — are not true lilies.

True lilies are members of the genus "Lilium." They grow from bulbs made of fleshy, overlapping scales with no protective covering. These bulbs produce large, showy blossoms in the summer garden. Many true lilies make excellent flowering plants for Utah gardens.

True lilies have relatively narrow strap-like leaves along the length of their stiff upright stems. Their flowers develop at the tip of each stem. The flowers can be trumpet-shaped, bowl-shaped or bell-shaped with reflexed petals, meaning they curve back toward the stems.

On some varieties, the blossoms nod downward, while on others they face outward or turn upward. They offer gardeners a wide variety of heights, flower forms and colors. In fact, their garden presence is so striking, they are often called the queen or the grande dame of the summer garden flowers.

Not only are they beautiful, they are easy to grow. With a little planning, you can choose a combination of early, midseason and late-blooming cultivars and have lilies in bloom from mid-June through mid-September.

Many different species of lilies are available, but not all of them thrive in Utah. Asiatic and Oriental lilies are the two most popular types that grow well in northern Utah gardens. An ideal location for Asiatic and Oriental lilies is a spot with six to eight hours of direct sunlight.

Lilies like rich soil, so add compost to improve your beds. If your have heavy clay soils, consider making berms to raise the soil to improve drainage.

Asiatic lilies are among the easiest to grow. They're very cold-hardy, need no staking and are not particularly fussy about soil, as long as it drains well. Flowers come in bright and pastel shades of almost every color except blue. Their only drawback is that they are not fragrant.