Oriental lily · Queens, New York, United States
When to sow oriental lilies in Queens
Main outdoor window
2 Dec - 15 Mar
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
29 March
In Queens, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1 Jul - 31 Aug
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Queens
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Plant the bulbs
2 Dec - 15 Mar
Any time the plant is dormant and the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged: after leaf fall in autumn, or at the end of winter before growth restarts.
In flower
1 Jul - 31 Aug
Oriental lilies through the year
Against the frost risk in Queens
Why these dates
Plant while dormant, autumn for preference, 20cm deep in soil that drains but does not dry out. These flower four to six weeks after the Asiatics, so planting both gives a lily season of two months rather than three weeks.
Hardy to about -25C, slightly less than an Asiatic lily, and wants a cool root run. Dislikes lime and hot dry soil more than it dislikes cold.
Oriental lilies are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. What matters in Queens is the shape of the year: this crop is dormant through the winter and is planted while it sleeps, any time between leaf fall in autumn and the restart of growth in spring, so long as the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged. That is why the window below spans the cold months rather than sitting in the middle of the growing season.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Queens is zone 8a, comfortably inside the range this crop is rated for, so an established plant should come through an average winter without protection.
Also in Queens
Other flowers to time
Growing oriental lilies in Queens
When should I plant oriental lilies in Queens?
Aim for 2 Dec - 15 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 20 Nov - 25 Mar - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will oriental lilies be ready to harvest in Queens?
Expect to start picking around 1 Jul - 31 Aug, based on 210 to 250 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will oriental lilies tolerate?
Hardy to about -25C, slightly less than an Asiatic lily, and wants a cool root run. Dislikes lime and hot dry soil more than it dislikes cold.