Gardening tips for late March: Plant lilies

published 30 March 2011

Lily bulbs are on sale everywhere now, and it's time to plant them. Lilium regale, the plant that made ‘Chinese' Wilson famous, is waxy white and deeply fragrant. If your soil is less than light, work in some sharp sand, and hoe some leafmould and sulphate of potash into the soil. Then get your trowel and start working away, placing each bulb a good 4in down, ideally on a base of sand. Put a marker of split cane or some such to deter the unwitting spade or hoe in the coming weeks.

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