188 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



spectacle so grand, and yet, from the absence of gaudy colours, so quiet 

 and chaste, that one may search far and wide among tender as well as 

 among hardy plants to find anything that deserves to be compared with 

 it. Certainly Lilium lancifolium, and even L. giganteum, are quite out- 

 done by the queen-like beauty of L. auratum, the noblest of its race 

 at present known. 



In the excellent catalogue of bulbs just received from Messrs. Cut- 

 bush and Son, of Highgate, we observe that imported flowering bulbs 

 of Lihum auratum are offered at from one and a half to three guineas 

 each, and offsets at from five to seven shillings each. It has now 

 become, therefore, a poor man's plant, and it may be good news to 

 many of our readers to hear that it is perfectly hardy. We know two 

 instances of plants remaining out all last winter, protected by cones of 

 coal-ashes, and throwing up enormous flower-spikes, which afew weeks 

 since were magnificent beyond all possibility of description, the flowers 

 measuring ten to twelve inches in diameter, and eight to twelve being 

 open on the same stem at the same time. But we refrain from 

 advising any of our readers to leave this plant out the whole of the 

 winter until they are well supplied with bulbs to take place of any in 

 case of loss. The best way to deal with the bulbs will be to pot them 

 as soon as obtained m equal parts silky yellow loam and turfy peat 

 with one-fourth part silver-sand added. The pots should be well 

 drained. Keep them in a frame or pit with the lights off till the occur- 

 rence of frost renders covering necessary. Thenceforward <?urino- the 

 winter keep them well aired and safe from frost, and always moderately 

 moist. The greatest care should be taken not to force them into hasty 

 growth by means of artificial heat in spring. At the end of April care- 

 fully plant them out, without injuring their tender roots, in a deep bed 

 of equal parts turfy peat and yellow loam, or in a good mixture con- 

 taining a good proportion of nodules of turf from peat or loam and leaf- 

 mould. From the beginning of May to the time the flowers expand 

 the plants should have abundance of water. They may be taken up 

 before winter, the offsets removed, and the large bulbs be potted 

 separately as before. 



Lilium giganteum is as hardy as any of our common border lilies 

 and will only attain to its fullest dimensions when planted out in rich 

 turfy loam, and abundantly supplied with water all the summer Ion" 

 In the catalogue just referred to, we see that bulbs are offered at from 

 five to twenty-one shillings each, though it seems but the other day 

 that bulbs of a flowering size were realizing five to seven guineas each 

 A stock of this noble lily may be got up in the course of a few vears 

 from seed. This should be sown on a bed of peat out of doors, and be 

 left undisturbed two seasons; the seedlings will then begin to 'appear 

 and some more will appear the third year. They must be 4owii 

 liberally, especially as to the supply of water during the summer and 

 in due time will well repay the care bestowed upon them. 



L. Fortuni, with grassy leaves and orange-coloured flowers, appears 

 not yet to have found a place in trade lists, and the stock is still we 

 suppose in the hands of Mr. Standish. Still more desirable as a 

 marketable commodity is the fine L. Nilqlerreme, the yellowish sweet- 

 scented flowers of which are very attractive. In the course of time 



