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I bought some Oriental Trumpet lilies from you at Chelsea last week and just wanted to check the best place for them. I know they grow quite tall and planned to put them at the back of a border which gets sun for most of the day. The soil is quite heavy there though, will that work or do I need more free draining please.
Lilies like up to 6-8 hours of full sun a day so the aspect you mention sounds great, but you’re right – you need to make sure the soil is well drained to prevent your lilies from rotting. Having a heavy / clay soil is likely to drown the lily bulbs in the winter. On very heavy soils, you’re best to plant lilies in pots using a good, multi-purpose compost, John Innes No. 3 for example.
Loraine Hart
