Lilies are so pretty. But dam do they smell when it is time to throw them out.

[csziggy]

9. The vintage varieties don't have much smell

The newer ones have been selected for scent.

When we bought this property in 1978 there was one clump of paperwhites living behind the old shack that was the only living place on the acreage. I dug the clump up, divided the bulbs and planted them around our house. Over the years I have dug and divided many times. We now have a lot of paperwhites from that one original clump.

They have no discernible smell - I'd notice if they did since I am allergic to most flower scents. They are pretty much unkillable. Once, the dog in digging a hole threw some of the bulbs into the top of a sago palm. The paperwhites thrived there and bloomed profusely in the top of the palm for years. When we dug up the palm to move it to the new house, those bulbs fell to the ground and were only covered by leaf litter. They bloomed this year again.

Once while we were getting work done on the exterior, I dug the paperwhites around the house and left them in a burlap sack for six months. I finally got them transplanted, and they bloomed happily the next winter. I've got to dig the ones on the south side of the house and I'm running out of places to plant them. I may just stick them randomly across the lawn - by the time we need to mow, they've stored their energy and the tops have died back and they won't sprout until after the last mowing of the fall.