Dress-up Lily Plants to Increase Easter Sales

Warm days arrive each spring to end the winter cold and encourage flowers to bloom. Easter is celebrated as one of the most popular holidays in this flowering season. The Easter Lily is a trumpet-shaped white bloom used more often used in plant form than as a cut flower stem during this short season. Oriental and Asiatic Lilies can be used in similar designs throughout the year. How can we dress these traditional plants fashionably for Easter?

Give Lilies a rustic-modern look

Easter is the perfect time to dress your Lily plants in a rustic-modern style. For this design, two rows of UGLU™ Adhesive encircle an ECOssentials Cylinder. OASIS™ Raw Jute is pressed onto the UGLU and secured into place by layers of OASIS™ Bind Wire. An added band of OASIS™ Natural Wrap finishes the decoration. Slip a 6-inch potted lily into the decorated container, and you have a natural, rustic-modern design

The Easter Lily tradition

The Latin name for the Easter Lily is Lilium longiflorum. Today’s Easter Lily bulb plants originally came from the Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan. Long ago, the bulbs were transported from Japan to the US west coast and also to Bermuda, where they were called Bermuda Lilies. From the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s, Bermuda lilies were imported from Bermuda to New York until disease infected the crops. The brisk trade in lily bulb imports from Japan to the US continued until World War II erupted. After Pearl Harbor, Japanese lily bulbs were brought to the southern coast of Oregon and Americans began growing their own.

A two-week sales season

Today most of the fifteen million bulbs purchased annually in the US are grown on farms along the border between Oregon and California with the remainder imported from The Netherlands. In the fall, bulbs are shipped to a small number of commercial greenhouses to grow as force-bloomed Easter Lilies for a brief two-week spring sales season each year. Dating back to biblical times, legends and images of the elegant trumpet-shaped flowers appeared symbolically in the Christian faith. The pure white blooms are often cherished as symbols of passion, hope, rejuvenation and resurrection. In modern times, lilies are often used to adorn church altars and crosses during the Easter holiday season across the US and Canada. They are called Easter Lilies because of their ties to Christianity and the fact that they are marketed across North America as Easter flowers, even though they typically bloom later in the season.

A seasonal favorite

In today’s floral market, the Easter lily is the fourth most popular selling potted plant in the US following the poinsettia, mums, and azaleas. How can we dress-up this seasonal favorite to give it a fashionable look for Easter? Smithers-Oasis Design Director Frank Feysa AIFD, PFCI offers some suggestions for decorating the containers of Easter lilies when in season and Oriental or Asian Lily plants all year long.

Add a fashionable touch with sequins and lace

[rev_slider alias="easter-lily-1"] Easter is a traditional time for dressing up in new spring finery. The first design above is a lily plant embellished in elegant OASIS™ Medallion Lace and OASIS™ Sequin Wrap atop the ECOssentials Cylinder of its Easter ensemble. In the second design, a ECOssentials Cylinder features a decoration of OASIS™ Medallion Lace and  Cluny Lace overlaying OASIS™ Sequin Wrap, perfect for an Easter celebration.

Accessorize the containers with decorative accents

[rev_slider alias="easter-lily-2"] Above, ECOssentials Cylinders are wrapped by bands of Moss or Eggplant OASIS™ Raw Jute or Scalloped Lace. Topped by OASIS™ Mega Beaded Wire wound around to create a decorative pattern. Rows of OASIS™ Bind Wire can be wrapped around to help secure the other materials in place.

Dress-up your lilies this Easter holiday

Easter, Oriental or Asiatic lilies are a popular choice for gifts and home or church décor during the Easter season. Make them extra special this year by using decorative accents to dress them up for the Easter season. Lilies often emit a strong fragrance; be sure to ask your customer if the recipient has allergies before selling an order of these long-lasting flowers for the home or office. What ideas can you share for dressing up your lily plants for Easter events?