Lilies are among the most graceful of summer-flowering plants - their tall, slim stems bear flowers with an enormous variety of dazzling colors and exotic shapes.
Lilies may be easily propagate in early autumn by stem bulbils, scaling, seed or by simple division. Always propagate from healthy stock.
Species like Lilium lancifolium and Lilium bulbiferum and their hybrids produce stem bulbils in the leaf axils and bulblets at the base of the old flowering stem. Remove them and pot them up to grow on. The following autumn, plant them out.
Seed sowing produce vigorous bulbs, but is slow.
Scaling is the most important way of propagating lilies. The bulbs of most lilies are composed of concentric rings of scales attached at their lower end to a basal plate. If this scales are detached from the parent bulb close to the base, so they retain a small piece of the basal tissue, they may develop bulblets, often near the base. Remove lily scales for propagation in early autumn.
Clean the lily bulb, remove any damaged outer scales. Gently snap off like 6 good scales, as close as possible to the base of the bulb. Put some fungicidal powder in a plastic bag and add the scales. Shake the bag gently so that all the scales are coated with the fungicide. Take them out and place them in another bag containing a 50:50 mix of peat substitute, or peat and perlite. Blow up the bag, then seal and keep it at 21 Celsius degree (70 F) in a warm dark place for 3 months. Then transfer them to a refrigerator for 6-8 weeks.
When small bulblets have developed on the scales, remove the scales if they are soft. If they are fleshy and firm, leave them attached to the bulblets. Plant the group of bulblets either single in small pots or several in a pan. Top-dress the pots with grit and leave them in a warm, light place. The following spring, harden off the young bulbs by placing the pots in a cold frame.
In the autumn, when the bulbs have grown on, remove them from the pots and separate them. Pot them up individually or plant them in their permanent position.
