Daylilies are a popular plant for their full bloom and can be pruned in the fall to prepare them for the dormant season. To do this, start pruning daily and deadheading the plant as the flowers brown, dry up, and die away. If you want to put the plant back entirely, wait until the first hard frost. Trim the dead foliage down to about two inches from the ground, as it prepares the plant for the dormant season.
The best time to prune lilies is after they have finished flowering, typically in late summer or early fall. This allows the plants to focus and prepare for winter. To prune lilies, remove spent flowers and stems that do not have buds during the growing season. Gently tug dead flowers or use pruning shears to remove the spent blooms and stems.
To deadhead a bloom, follow the stalk of the flower all the way down to the base of the plant and use small, lightweight shears to cut the stalk off right at the base. To prune lilies in the fall, cut back the stems all the way down to the foliage. As you trim back the flower stems and remove dead foliage, monitor the plant’s growth.
It is best to prune lilies in the late fall or early spring, after the last frost. First, cut the stem down to about 4-6 inches from the soil line. Once the lilies have finished flowering, cut the flower head off and leave the leaves and stem to die back naturally until it turns brown and hollow. Tidy up the lily flowerheads once the petals have fallen, trimming them back to just above a pair of leaves.
While lilies do need to be pruned after deadheading, only prune a lily when the stems and leaves have started to go yellow/brown.
📹 How To Prune Lilies
Marianne Binetti shows you how to keep your lilies in full bloom. Learn how to prune your lilies to ensure they grow to their full …
📹 How to deadhead your lilies
Prune Trim Cut back Care after flowering Old dead stems Care after bloom.
Thank you so much for this information!!! This is EXACTLY what i needed to see!!! I watched like 4 other articles and none of them told me the whole process!! I appreciate you taking the time to tell the audience the process of after they’ve bulbed and bloomed. I didn’t know what to do next? Now i do! Thank you again!!!
I planted one Asiatic lily last year and it didn’t bloom. This June 2024 it did bloom with five buds. Two more lilies grew from the first lily, but the two new lilies likely won’t bloom this year as I don’t see any buds on them. Is that typical? Had I known how beautiful the Asiatic lily was, I would have planted at least a dozen of them last year. This spring I did plant ten more.
Thank you very much!! I had no idea Lillie’s propagated through the roots!! I’ve killed a few of the smaller ones thinking they were weeds trying to look like lilies. Good thing is, I was dead heading without knowing, something told me just snap that shit off after the pedals fell off. lol. Now I gotta go apologize to the mother plants. 😅
Thank you Dimitri for such a helpful, detailed and easy to follow explanation of how to look after Lilies! I have a handful growing in my garden right now, so this instructional article will enable me to take care of them when they have matured. By the way you seem a very delightful person, and I’m very jealous of your garden, what amazing views you have!
You have a new subscriber here. Thank you for making sense. I’ve watched a few articles and they just don’t know how to convey the message. You did! I appreciate it. I’ve been growing lilies for a few years and now I actually have the time to learn more about them. I can only imagine what they’d be now if I would’ve found you sooner. It just gets better from here. 😊 Thank you
I picked up some spent lilies for one dollar each at Lowe’s recently. I planted them and had no idea what to do with them, knowing they won’t bloom until next year. This morning I walked out and one of the plant’s leaves were all yellow. I was so sad because I noticed the others starting to yellow. I thought to myself, “I am not the plant whisperer,” in sadness. I’m so glad I searched for this article. Now I know. Thank you. Also, going home to cut off those fruits. I know they are there. Thank you.
Thank you. Extremely helpful article. Could you please do a article that explains what to do if your lily bulbs are planted in the ground and not a pot? You say that the parent bulb will multiply and produce more bulbs, so is there a point where they will run out of room and the baby bulbs need to be dug up or separated and moved elsewhere? When and how should I do that? Thanks in advance.
Thank you!!!! I just moved to a house with tons of beautiful tiger lilies and since before they bloomed until now (when they’re all dead) I have not been able to find a single article or anything explaining how to care for them. They are looking pretty ugly but I was almost sure I shouldn’t clip them. I’m glad I didn’t now!
Great explanations! Thank you. Question: the male parts (stamens) that contain the pollen are staining & messy so I like to snip them off before they open up and expose the pollen. Is this bad? Does that hurt the health of the plant at all? You mentioned to wait until the fruit sets before deadheading it. If I remove the stamen before their pollen fertilizes the female part (pistil) then I assume it wouldn’t set fruit. So… is not letting it set fruit a bad idea?
After the green part fades and dies off where exactly do I snip it off at? Also, thank you so much for such a thorough and extensive article full of information. I’m new to gardening period as I have never really had a green thumb in the past but I LOVE lilies. I was given a couple potted lily plants for mothers day and I really don’t want to let these die…soooo glad I found your tutorial articles ☺️. Also, mine will have to stay in pots for now until I’m able to have an above ground garden as I live in Las Vegas NV and the soil here is HORRIBLE. I would soooo appreciate it if you could do a tutorial for those little lily plants that have to stay indoors in pots for the most part…thanks again and have a blessed and wonderful life🥰
Dimitri love your article! My wife got a plant for Mother’s Day in May, now last week all of the flowers were fully bloomed and the petals have fallen off. Never cared for this planet before but I understand it’s here for a good time not a long time lol. Now I know what to do with the fruits. I’ll begin to deadhead them. Question for you, how did you get the smaller plants from the main plant?
I LOVE lilies! My son gave me a beautiful pot of stargazers last year they are about 5 inches high and there are six!!! Do I leave them in the pot? I did replant them and space them out a bit. I bought 8 for $23 at Costco yesterday. Not certain as to where to put them. Your info is what I need. Thank you!!
Thank you for the info, I have some Easter lillies that already flowered and I snipped them off and made a bouquet for my home but now the stalks are big and unsightly and turning yellow, I almost snipped them, glad I saw your article before I did !! Can I cut them down a little or do I just wait until the rot away ? They are very tall that’s why I wanted to cut them down. Please let me know and thanks again so much !!
Thank you so much for this article! It made everything less confusing as a new plant owner. I also just wanted to ask what I’m supposed to do after I’ve deadheaded the flowers and cut the stem. Do I still need to water it/the bulb regularly? I have an asiatic lily and live in a tropical country. I’ve also placed my lily indoors in a pot.
My back garden has no dirt showing between plants. The TALLs like goldenrod and “wolfbane” get cut to half height when the lily leaves start to dissappear. Later, the lilies will bloom above the now short talls. When they are through blooming, the talls will be very tall again and bloom with multiple branches. There will be a sea of yellow and a sea of blue after the sea of hundreds of pink lilies. Dead head all the flowers that are done blooming, and the plants will be stronger and thicker for next year. ))
I watched this article last year and did what you said and they are so an amazingly beautiful flowers Thank you. My garden is on 3rd year they looking getting more flowers blooming. The only problem is I don’t know how to get rid of the red beetles and those gross babies. They eating the hell out of the leaves and putting holes in my bulbs. Luckily for me the flowers are still alive and beautiful. I have about 9 kinds of lilies and I don’t know what they are called and I have Also have Tiger lilies and Easter lilies. I tried using an app to identify lilies that I don’t know are called. The app calls pretty much Easter lily. I know what a Tiger lily is because it’s different shape other than the lilies. Well I believe it’s White Easter lily. I love lilies because they’re flowering is huge and I wasn’t expecting Tiger lily gets as tall as me I’m 5’0 lol. Can you help me how to get rid of Red Beetles. I live in Berlin, NH we can’t got their Walmart and Tractor supply store. They had Japanese beetle trap last year not this year. I got on Amazon and traps the Japanese beetle tried to get out of the hole so I made the hole smaller but, not red beetle. Red beetle can climb up the inside bag wall. So Please what’s the best way to kill the red beetle other than hot water and Dawn detergent. Like an instant kill lol and without going poor lol. Thank you for your article
Hello, When you say snip it when all the leaves are brown and dying the whole thing then snip it. How much should I leave? I read 2inches and cut straight, then I read 1inch and 45 degree angle? How much and how far down do I snip it? Lastly, I loved the article very well explained! I was told however, to cut 45degree angle before the first stem once the flowers have fallen off. So I did that, then I came across your article. I was not told you cut or just snapped it off at the base. Please tell me I didn’t destroy my lilies? Thank you!
I have a question- after I remove the fruit, then should I water the plant every day – is it necessary ? Or will wait until next year? But u said it will turn yellow – don’t understand this part. And another question is sister Lily will grow automatically ? Like from 1 bulb I got 1 Lily plant . Anyway thanks for good explanation
Thank you for all the information. But I do have a question. At the end when the leaves turn yellow and not so pretty you say to cut that off. Does that mean the entire stem? Like down to the ground? I live in Colorado and winter is cold!! I am afraid the snow will smash it into the ground flat. Help please!?
“Also, why are you anxious about clothing? Take a lesson from the lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not toil, nor do they spin. but I tell you that not even Solʹo·mon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. Now if this is how God clothes the vegetation of the field that is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much rather clothe you, you with little faith?”
Just a warning I have had lilies for a few years now here in the UK last year I noticed holes in the leaves then by chanced I saw a bright red beetle I had never seen before I looked it up and it’s a red lily beetle and not native to the UK they came back this year you have to look for them all the time they lay eggs under the leaves i now have a spray just to kill them fingers crossed it will work