Lillies in pots - what to do after blooms are finished

Hi, we have some Orientals, some Asiatics, and some Orienpets in pots (from one gallon to three gallons in size). They're finishing up their blooming period now (so sad!) and I don't know what to do with them. Should we cut them down after they yellow, like we do daffodils? Should we leave the pots out where they can get rain or bring them into our screen porch?

Come winter, should we leave the pots outside or put them into our makeshift greenhouse?

thx!
jo

I would let them die naturally - feeding the blub. I believe since the lilies are above ground in pots they will need protection over the winter.

Should I water them while they "die"?

I do. I want the blub to grow & hopefully it will produce more flowers the next year & the year after that. I used to cut my lilies down and have lost a few thru the years. Lucky someone told me not to. I just found Dave's Garden & wished I had found it years ago. It has answered alot of questions for me.

Lilies are alive every day of the year, even when they're not creating growth for our eyes to notice. Don't let them go dry! They don't want to be soaking wet either - it can drown them.

Like everyone said, let them die back some to feed the bulb, water lightly and you should still get flowers next season. I have some asiatics in a pot from 6 years ago that are still going strong. The pot is about 2 ft tall and pretty huge. I originally planted 6-8 orange asiatics in it. The flower show each year ebbs and flows but I always get something. Last year I had a ton of spindly seedlings, but this year it was a packed house of orange flowers.

Now, last summer I was broken into from my back patio and I basically refused to go out back and let all the pots go negelected. With no supplemental water or care I lost 2 pots of oriental lilies. This year when I dug into them all that was in the soil were dried husks where the bulbs were supposed to be.

After bloom it's important that you allow the leaves to remain until they're totally born. Just cut off the top portion where the blooms were - not any of the green. The leaves feed the bulbs.

Thanks everyone -- I'll move the pots against a fence and give them a drink now and then (like everyone else). In the winter, I'll move some of the pots into our little greenhouse and put the others just outside and alongside it (for a bit of warmth and shelter).

You could mass them on the side of the greenhouse and puts bags of leaves around them for winter.

Yes, that's pretty much what did last year with some of them (and some daffs and tulips). Glad to know that they'll probably survive and even thrive. We don't have much sun and our four dogs do quite a bit of digging (usually right after we have planted!), so we have found that large pots and tubs work better for us 'cause we can move them when needed.