274 THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. [December, 



which cannot be postponed, demand attention. Vines under glass should not 

 be exposed to severe frost, as it would seriously injure them. 



Stourton. M. Saul. 



BELLADONNA LILIES. 



NOTWITHSTANDING the denunciation in the Cottage Gardeners Dic- 

 tionary, to the effect that " all bulbs which flower without their leaves 

 are objectionable,'" I must put in a claim for the Belladonna Lily as being 

 not only not objectionable, but very highly to be desired, for its great 

 beauty, and for its real usefulness. During the month of October, when cut 

 flowers from the open air are apt to partake of a common character — I use the 

 word "common" not in derogation of the flowers themselves, for in this sense 

 no flowers are common even if plentiful, but in regard to the estimation in which 

 they are held, because they are to be found in most gardens — this possesses a 

 most redeeming character, being not only chaste and beautiful, but very un- 

 common. It is for this reason that I have thought it desirable to call attention 

 to it, believing it to be not so much known and appreciated as it ought to be. 

 Its culture is, perhaps, the most easy and simple required by any plant we have 

 under our care, and it is just this — After Careful Planting, let it alone. Give 

 the foliage free scope for growth, and don't disturb the roots more than once, 

 or at most twice, say, in a quarter of a century. 



It may be asked what I mean by careful planting, and to reply, I must enter 

 a little more into detail ; and, as I have for some years been experimenting 

 with these Lilies in various situations, I feel in a position to write something 

 about them. There is at the present time, in front of a greenhouse at Eedleaf, a 

 narrow border about 30 ft. long and 18 in. wide, planted thickly with Tea-scented 

 Roses. Some twenty years ago, I took up a few patches of Belladonna Lilies, 

 which I found in the border, and planted them in all the intervals between the 

 roses, and in this small space, after cutting about 60 spikes, I find there are 120 

 spikes now (October) in bloom, with several more coming on. In another situa- 

 tion, at the base of a south wall, five bulbs were planted twelve years ago ; they 

 have not been disturbed, and to-day there are 19 spikes in full bloom in a space 

 of one square foot. In the former case, where they are planted among the roses, 

 the want of foliage is not felt, because they shoot up through the green branches, 

 and form very beautiful and striking objects, being in full beauty at a season 

 when other things are waning. 



Now, no one must conclude that effects like these can be produced in a single 

 season, though it perhaps might be done with imported flowering bulbs. I am 

 alluding to bulbs which have been well established in their places for a number 

 of years, and it requires several years to get them to flower in such profusion. 

 Much also depends upon the temperature of the autumn. I have known hun- 

 dreds of spikes killed down by an early frost ; but this rarely occurs to such an 



