Hi everyone,

I've heard people say that, although they love lily flowers, they don't plant lilies because they really don't like the stalks once the flowers have gone. I don't mind them, but I do understand.

This year, I decided to try planting vines near my lilies so that the stalks would provide a trellis of sorts. It worked! I chose moonflowers because their bloom season is in the late summer and fall, and that's when my lily stalks have no flowers.

I planted mine in planters, but I think planting them at the base of the lilies would be a better choice. Here's a picture--there are no flowers because moonflowers bloom late in the day or overnight. Please keep in mind that these stalks are about 7 feet tall!



Here's the moonflower bloom:



I'm sure there are many vines that would work to dress up your lily stalks. It would probably be helpful to keep the following in mind:

*use vines that grow and bloom in the summer, late summer and/or early fall.

*avoid perennials as you're going to be cutting the lily stalks down as soon as they turn yellow or brown. You probably don't want to have to try to remove your vine from those stalks.

*to avoid competition for nutrients, try planting the vine(s) in nearby planters. Many don't need much depth.

*it might also be advisable to avoid vines that would take over the stalks so completely as to block out the sun and light the lily stalks need to feed the underground bulbs. We do want our lilies to thrive next season!

I hope this is helpful!

Here's an earlier picture where the vines were already growing and entwining in the stalks, but early enough that I still had flowers.

Great idea!

crawgarden said:Great idea!

Helllooo,

Question...
Do you guys store overwinter moonflower vines? I heard these are actually perennials.....

Hi @JayZeke

Best place to ask that is either the Ask a Question forum, or if there is one, the moonflower forum.

Here's the link to the Ask a Question forum:
https://garden.org/apps/ask/

I didn't find a moonflower forum, but there is one for vines and climbers that should be helpful:
https://garden.org/forums/view...

Good luck!

Great idea - do you plan on moving them out of the planters in the spring?

Hi Brian, and welcome! Great group of people here.

Thanks. I live in zone 5 so they have already died out due to cold and frost. I'm not one of those lucky people who has a garage or basement I can overwinter my plants in, so the annuals bow out each autumn making room for new ones in the spring.

But regarding this scenario, they have entwined themselves among the lily stalks, which die out each fall/winter no matter where you live. So both go.

Check the ipomea forum. Moon flowers are basically morning glories that bloom at night.