White lily - description, planting and care

White Lily

Currently, a wide variety of hybrids of lilies have replaced the white fragrant lily (Lilium candidum) in the flower beds. But the lily of this variety has a beautiful flowering, a pleasant aroma emanates from it, and it also has many useful healing properties.

The homeland of the lily is the Mediterranean countries. Candidum lily, or white lily, is a unique, one and only variety that responds well to the climatic conditions of the subtropics, where it is always hot and dry in summer, and winter is wet, but completely without snow.

Even in ancient times, the lily was used as a symbol of royal blood, and this flower is also a symbol of purity, chastity in Christianity. Lily was present in the paintings of most artists of the Renaissance, thus the lily was recognized on a global scale. Also, the flower can be found on Christian icons of the Virgin and the Archangel Gabriel, the lily is symbolized on them as a sign of purity and innocence. The exception to the rule is Germany - here the lily appears as a symbol of death and life after it.

For more than three thousand years, the white lily has been cultivated for medicinal purposes. Indeed, the flowers contain important essential oils, vanillin, linalol, acetic, palmitic, cinnamic, propionic acids, flavonoids.

Bulbs also have benefits and are used in the preparation of various medicinal tinctures. They contain a lot of starch, they contain polysaccharides, phytosterols, amino acids, tannins.

For folk recipes, both flowers and bulbs are used. They are used to make alcohol tinctures. Medicinal properties are helpful in diseases of the respiratory system, relieve pain (as a pain reliever), help calm the nervous system, cope with cardiovascular diseases, and are good as a diuretic. But the lily flower is not for home, as its scent causes headaches.

White lily: characteristic

Lily Snow White belongs to the Lily family. It is a herbaceous perennial. The onion is yellow, 9-11 cm in size. A large number of onion scales are tightly pressed together. No stem roots. Lily has two types of leaves. Leaves at the roots are folded into a rosette. The size of the leaves is up to 24 cm in length. Leaves grow from the scales of the bulbs. The second type of leaves is located on a sturdy stem, up to a meter long. The leaves are small, narrow, directed upwards.

The inflorescences are large, two sexes, up to 7 cm in diameter, have a white tint with a yellow overflow at the base. One stem can contain up to 20 flowers. The flower is correct, wide, in the form of a funnel. Inflorescences grow upward or to the side. No fruit formation.

The flower has 6 petals, 1 pistil, 6 stamens with large oblong bright yellow anthers. The flowers have a strong, pleasant aroma. Flowering occurs on 15 June days. It blooms for 21 days.

White lily hybrids

European hybrids of white lily were obtained by crossing L. Candidum, L. Testaceum, L. Chalcedonicum. In hybrid varieties, the perianth is white, flowers up to 13 cm in size, they have a wonderful aroma. The perianth is tubular or funnel-shaped. The stems are up to 1.5 m long. They are densely covered with leaves. The leaves are narrow, lanceolate, dark green. The varieties bred by selection were capricious even those. They need to be well covered for the winter, they are thermophilic, do not like shade, they always need protection from fungal diseases.

The best varieties that are bred in Russian flower beds.

Apollo hybrid. It reaches a length of up to 1.2 m.The flowers are snow-white in color, with a pleasant aroma, in their middle there are small dark dots. Flowering occurs in the second and third summer months.

Madonna hybrid. The flower is like a pipe with slightly curved edges. The flower is snow-white, its size is up to 13 cm, it has the most delicate aroma.

White lily: planting in open soil

Choosing a landing site is as easy as shelling pears. Pure varieties will do well in light shade or in an area that is open and full of sun. Hybrids need to be grown in places where there is always sun.

There should be no dense bushes around the landing site. Shrubs create an overly moist environment around flowers and block them from light.

The soil for planting should be loose, fertile, alkaline, not acidic (in it, the plant will get sick or die). You can remove acid by adding lime, lilies like it. If you are going to plant lilies in heavy clay soil, then before planting you need to add sand to the soil and make a drainage system.

The best time for planting is the first autumn days. Lily manages to collect leaves at the roots and get used to the winter season. If you plant a lily in spring, the flower will get sick and may not bloom at all. After the lily has faded, it rests. The dying off of the aerial part occurs, the bulbs are dug out for transplantation or further spread. But! If the bulbs have already begun to form a root rosette, then you do not need to dig them out.

Prepare the seat in advance. The earth is dug up, weeds are removed, if necessary, sand and fertilizers are added (a bucket of humus, 100 g of superphosphate, 50 g of potassium sulfate, ½ kg of ash per 1 m plot²) to lighten the soil. Then irrigate the area with a large volume of water.

When the bulbs are planted, they do not need to be buried. They are planted 10-12 cm deep. If planted in loose soil, then you can deepen the bulb, if in heavy soil, then plant it higher than 10-12 cm.

But in any case, it is necessary to plant so that a soil layer of 3 cm remains above the bulb, take into account the size of the onion. The interval between the bulbs is at least 26 cm.When we plant, you can put a support for the stems in the hole, which determines the planting place while the flower is at rest.

White lily care

It is easy to care for this variety. It is necessary to feed the entire growing season. At the beginning of the period, you need to add a solution of ash or dry ash by root method. Before the lily begins to bloom, it must be fed with a complex of mineral fertilizers that contains potassium.

Shelter for the wintering of the planted bulbs is necessary if the climatic conditions are harsh in the planting areas.

Prevention of fungus - a solution of potassium permanganate and water is applied by the root method.

Watering is necessary if necessary. Lilies do not like overly wet conditions, but during dry times you can water more.

We use the root method of feeding, do not touch the root leaves.

Lilies are transplanted 5-6 years after the first planting. The perennial grows, the soil becomes depleted, the bulbs are crowded, the flowers become smaller, the plant can finish its flowering.

White lily: how to propagate

The lily does not form seed pods, does not form bulbs in internodes, the flower does not form stem roots, because children are usually formed on them. Bulbs only after a while form children around them. After 5-6 years after planting the mothers, the children are dug up, separated by the roots and planted separately.

You can divide the bulbs into scales in order to further propagate the lilies. An adult bulb is divided into 20 parts, up to 5 small onions are formed from each part.

Divide the largest onion. The largest scales are separated, it is necessary to rinse them well and soak in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes.Then they are treated with a preparation for root formation, then you need to lay them out on wet sawdust and place them in a mini-greenhouse. The greenhouse should be placed where it is warm and dark. After 60 days, bulbs will appear at the base of the scales, which immediately separate and sit in the soil in order to grow further.

Ailments and enemies

A pure white lily variety and its hybrids are not immune to the fungus.

The most popular fungal diseases of lily bulbs, leaves and flowers.

Fungus Botrytis cinerea. Or gray rot. Harmful to leaves and flowers. The difficulty is that the remaining parts of the spores of the fungus are well tolerated at low temperature conditions and can remain in the scales of the bulbs. Prevention of fungus - treatment with the drug "Fundazol".

Fungus of the genus Fusarium. Fusarium. Damages the bulbs, this can cause the death of the lily. Prevention - treatment with the solution "Fundazol", "Topsin M", "Euparen", "Bavistin".

Fungus Cercospora. Cercosporosis. Harmful to the ends of leaves. Prevention - treatment with Bordeaux liquid, preparations "Topaz", "Hom".

Lily is susceptible to diseases carried by insects (aphids, thrips).

Cucumber and tobacco mosaic. Aphids carry these diseases. Symptoms: whitish spots and streaks on leaves and flowers, the end of their development and death. Prevention and treatment - disinfect inventory and flowers with karbofos.

Rosette. Insects carry. The stems become thicker and turn yellow. The plant does not bloom. Prevention and treatment - treat with karbofos.

Lilies have no protection from pests. Enemies: aphids, thrips, spider mites, lily flies, wireworms, bears. These insects love nutritious bulbs and lily leaves.

Fighting enemies all year round everywhere on the site. It is imperative to treat both plants and soil with insecticides.

A flower bed with snow-white lily flowers will decorate every site, garden, orchard. And the pleasant scent of flowers will 100% attract pollinating insects that pollinate other plants. These beautiful flowers are great for bouquet arrangements.