THE FLORAL WORLD 



AND 



GARDEN GUIDE. 



MARCH, 1869. 



GARDEN LILIES. 



"WITH EIGUJR.E OE LILIUM LEICHTLINII. 



l'NCE the introduction of the beautiful L. auratum, it 

 has been supposed by one class of cultivators that it is 

 the only lily worth growing ; on the other hand, it has 

 attracted attention to the merits of other species and varie- 

 ties. We have no intention to depreciate auratum, 

 but while admiring it, let us not forget the glorious colouriag of L. 

 chalcedonicum, the purity of L. candidum, the exquisite shades and 

 markings of L. lancifolium, and the full and delicious fragrance of 

 L. eximeum, which is white as driven snow, to say nothing about 

 other distinguished members of the sisterhood. There are many 

 lilies which are of more value as botanical curiosities than for their 

 usefulness as decorative plants ; we shall have nothing to do with 

 such in this paper, our object being to pick out a few that ought to 

 be grown in every garden in the land. No herbaceous border is 

 complete, in our estimation, without a goodly collection of lilies 

 planted therein. There would be little room for the opponents of 

 the mixed border to complain about its poverty of appearance were 

 groups of the best kinds introduced, three or four bulbs being 

 planted in each group. Another good way to grow lilies would be 

 to make up a bed in a rather sheltered and out-of-the-way corner, 

 and plant in it several sorts ; the display of bloom would then last 

 for a considerable length of time. We do not suggest the planting 

 of lilies in an out-of-the-way place because they are wanting in 

 beauty, but rather on account of their being unsuitable for planting 

 in geometric schemes. The essential condition for lily-growing out 

 of doors is a light rich soil, well-drained, and sufficiently deep for the 

 roots to go down beyond the influence of summer drought. If the 

 soil in the bed is not naturally light and rich, it can be easily made 

 so by taking out the ordinary stuff and replacing with equal parts of 

 mellow hazel-coloured loam, rotten manure, and leaf-mould, all tho- 

 roughly incorporated together. Lilies are not particular a3 to soil, 



VOL. IV. — NO. III. 5 



