wrote in message
...

I used to plant these things out in the garden all the time with great
success many years ago but I can't remember how I did it.

Val

plant it two inches deeper than the pot. feet in the shade and head
in the sun, don't cut the bulk of the stems off, just where the
blossoms have dropped their petals. the leaves are feeding the bulb.
Come fall, a little time release bulb food will be fine, come next
year it WON'T bloom on Easter, it will come up and bloom around the
mid part of June. They only bloom on Easter because they're forced in
greenhouses. But they are perennial for most of us in zone 5 and up.
I've grown them successfully for years now outside.

madgardener, zone 7a, Sunset zone 36

Thanks Maddie, you've refreshed my memory. I won't be planting it in the
ground, as in terra firma, it will be in one of the large planters on my
balcony. I've got quite a few Star Gazers that have thrived for the past
five years and in February I planted 3 Miss Lucys. They've all got their
little heads poking up and looking good. I actually foliar feed all leaves
on my bulbs from the time they start to appear until they begin to turn
yellow with liquid kelp and compost tea. In the spring I top dress all my
containers with a mix of worm castings and alfalfa meal. It seems to work
well since my tulips, daffs and other bulbs continue to bloom profusely and
even multiply year after year.

I saw a few sad looking pots of what were Easter Lilies sitting down by the
dumpster yesterday. I might just go on back down there and see about
adopting them.

Val