250 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



Lilies for Every Garden 



HELEN M. FOX 



THE lily is always ctmsiiiciunis and lends a stately 

 beauty to anj- scene it graces. What other 

 flower shows as much variety of form, foliage and 

 color? Can the loveliness of the jewel-like flowers 

 of our native superbum be surpassed, with their ])eri- 

 anths of red, green and orange swinging like gayly 

 colored bells from their tall stalks ; or the open spread- 

 ing, white auratums. with a pale, golden band mark- 

 ing the center of each segment, their stems swaying 

 and bending under the weight of the heavy flowers, 



Liliuiii aiiralniii 



SO fragrant that tlie perfume spreads o\er the garden, 

 and thrnugh the vvindnvvs into the house at night; or 

 the humboldtii, a Californian. like orange liirds with 

 spotted breasts, their perianth segments rolled back 

 to the stem, their pistils and stamens curving out- 

 wards, making them appear in flight across a green 

 meadow; or again the philadelphicum. like a ruby 

 colored grail holding its cup to the skies The color 

 combinations in an}- one flower can ser\e as a model 

 for artists, where emerald green, rosy pink and white 

 are used as in sj^eciosums, or greenish brnwn. gold. 

 purple and white as in regales. Nature, the master 

 artist, is at her best here and the culor harmonies are 

 worked out to the minutest detail, even to the varying 

 shades of the ])ollen. I'"rom gradations of brown, 

 orange, golfl, black, purple and red, the one is chosen 

 which tones in best with the other colors. 



All this beauty can be yours, as lilies are easy to 

 grow. Mfjst people have the fallacious impressifin 

 that the)' are delicate and finicky because, in the jiast, 

 we Americans have taken our garden lore principally 

 from the English. When they found their damp, sun- 

 less climate unsuited to them, we thought the same 

 must apjily to us. Most lilies like hot .Summers with 

 plenty of sunshine anfl a dry period to rest in after 

 jjlooming. In general it is best for the peojile living 

 on the West coast of the United States to grow tlie 

 European kinds and for those on the East coast to 

 grow the Chinese and Taj)anese. and for all to cultivate 

 whatever species is indigenous to their region. 



With so many beautiful native lilies, how foolish it 

 is not to make full use of this convenient material 

 read\- lor us to paint our gardens with. Canadense 

 and philadelphicum lilies grow wild in the meadows 

 of my own farm and transplanted to the garden they 

 grow taller and stronger and are the June sensation, 

 with their yellow and orange perianths with white 

 candidums, blue delphiniums and jnirple Japanese 

 irises. 



The longer one gardens the more one realizes that 

 certain plants cio wondertulh- well on the hill, while 

 they are a failure in the valley. Sometimes on one 

 side of a stream a plant will flourish that will languish 

 on the other bank. To have success with lilies try out 

 nian\- kinds and then specialize with the ones that 

 thrive on your place. 



Fine lilies come only frnm good stock. Beware of 

 the cold siorage bull). I'an- nic(lium sized bulbs in 



Liiitiiii rci^iilc 



]n-efcrence to the largest which are forced to increase 

 their bulk, weight and price, but lose in vigor and 

 are more suljjcct to disease. The shorter the time 

 they are out of the ground the better, as thc}^ must 

 not dry out. If possible l)uy from the grower. Some- 

 times this cannot be done, as he may not have the 

 rare varieties. If they come from a distance and 

 arrive after the ground is fro/en. nlant the liulbs in 

 boxes and winter in the cold frame. When the shoots 

 come up in tlie Sjiring. trans])lant to their permanent 

 place, iieforc planting examine the bulb carefully to 

 sec if there are an\- slimy scales. These are caused 

 by a disease called Rhizf)]ius necans. Ilulbs badly 

 affected with this have an un])leasant ndnr. Dust the 

 i)ulbs witii flowers of suliihur before jilanting to pre- 

 \cnt this. There is another lilv disease called Bo- 

 trytis cincrea which shows itself by yellow spots on 

 the leaves. Plants having cither of these diseases 

 should be destroyed. 



Once the bulb has arrived and is hcalthv, the best 



