How to play Lily Days
Lily Days is a gardening game that takes about a minute a day. You plant seeds, water each one on its own schedule, and try to keep a whole garden healthy for longer than the people you are ranked against. This page is the complete set of rules.
The daily loop
Every plant accepts one watering per real day. Water it and it advances one growth stage; water it again the same day and nothing happens. There is no energy bar, no timer and no way to buy extra turns, so playing more in a single sitting cannot move you up the board. Coming back tomorrow is the only thing that does.
A plant needs between four and fifteen waterings to bloom, depending on the species. The slowest, the bonsai pine, takes a month.
Cadence: not every plant wants water daily
Half the roster is on a longer cycle. A woodland fern, ghost orchid and bonsai pine all want water every second day, and the desert cactus every third. Watering them in between does nothing — with one important exception below.
Time windows
Some plants only drink at certain hours, measured on your own local clock. A sunflower takes water between 06:00 and 20:00. A moonflower only after dusk, from 18:00 through to 06:00 the next morning. Outside the window the water runs off: no growth, but no damage either.
Overwatering
The desert cactus is the one plant that punishes you for turning up too often. Water it before its third day and the roots rot — it loses health and, repeated enough, it dies. Every other species simply ignores water it did not need.
Wilting, death and rescue
Miss a plant's day and it wilts, and your streak on it resets. That is all — a single watering brings a wilted plant straight back to health. A plant only actually dies once it is four of its own care cycles overdue, which for a daily plant means four days and for the bonsai means over a week. A dead plant costs you fifteen points until you clear the plot, and a revival tonic from the shop can bring one back. Plants that have already bloomed cannot die.
Dewdrops and the shop
Tending earns dewdrops. Dewdrops buy new seed species, fertiliser for the tomato and orchid, pruning shears for the bonsai, revival tonics and ornaments for the yard. Nothing in Lily Days can be bought with real money — the shop is the reason to keep a garden running, not a way to skip one.
Seasons and the weekly league
Your garden has a score: every living plant contributes its species' points, reduced the longer it has been overdue, and dead plants subtract. You are placed in a league with gardeners whose clocks are within a few hours of yours, so a season deadline lands at a similar local hour for everyone in it.
A season runs seven days. At the end, the top finishers are promoted a tier, the bottom are relegated, and the board resets. Your garden is never reset — only the ranking is. There are permanent all-time boards too, for total blooms, longest streak, garden value and gardener level.
Friends and visiting
Share your friend code and you can visit each other's gardens. A visit can rescue a friend's wilting plant, which protects their score — but it never advances their growth, so it cannot be used to farm progress with a second account.
Every plant at a glance
The full care contract for all eight species. Each name links to a longer guide.
| Plant | Water | Time window | Plot | Extra care | Days to bloom | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water LilyBeginner | Every day | Any hour | Pond | None | 7 | 10 |
| SunflowerBeginner | Every day | 06:00–20:00 | Sunny plot | None | 10 | 18 |
| Woodland FernSteady | Every 2 days | Any hour | Shaded plot | None | 8 | 16 |
| Desert CactusSteady | Every 3 days | Any hour | Sunny plot | Rots if watered early | 12 | 24 |
| MoonflowerSteady | Every day | 18:00–06:00 | Any plot | None | 9 | 26 |
| Heirloom TomatoDemanding | Every day | Any hour | Sunny plot | Feed ×3 | 14 | 32 |
| Ghost OrchidExpert | Every 2 days | Any hour | Shaded plot | Feed ×4 | 18 | 60 |
| Bonsai PineExpert | Every 2 days | Any hour | Any plot | Prune ×4 | 30 | 85 |
Questions, answered
Is Lily Days free to play?
Yes. Lily Days is free, there are no adverts, and nothing in it can be bought with real money. Seeds, fertiliser, tools and ornaments are all paid for with dewdrops you earn by tending your garden.
How long does a turn take?
About a minute. You water the plants that are due, and that is the day done. The game is built around one short visit a day rather than long sessions.
What happens if I miss a day?
The plant wilts and your streak resets, but nothing is lost immediately — one watering brings a wilted plant straight back. A plant only dies once it is four of its own care cycles overdue, and a revival tonic from the shop can rescue even that. Plants that have already bloomed never die.
Can I water a plant twice to make it grow faster?
No. Each plant accepts one watering per day and ignores the rest, so there is no way to rush growth by playing more. The desert cactus goes further and loses health if you water it early.
How does the game handle different time zones?
Your day is your day. Lily Days stores the time zone you signed up in and runs every deadline on your local clock, so a player in Sydney and a player in Chicago each get their own midnight. The server keeps the time, so changing your device clock does nothing.
How does the weekly league work?
You are grouped with gardeners on roughly the same clock as you and ranked by garden score for a seven-day season. Top finishers are promoted, the bottom are relegated, and then the board resets. Your garden never resets — only the ranking does.
Do I need to install anything?
No. Lily Days runs in the browser. It is also a progressive web app, so you can add it to your phone's home screen and it will open like an ordinary app.
How many plants are there?
Eight species, each with a different care contract — different watering cadence, different time windows, different plot types, and some needing fertiliser or pruning as well as water.