THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



659 



turban-shaped flowers, ranging in colour 

 from a rich canary-yellow to a pale lemon- 

 yellow. Some forms have spotted flowers, 

 and some are much larger than others. 

 The varieties are known as L. Szovitzi- 

 anum, colchicum, and Loddigesianum. 

 L. monadelphum thrives best in moist 

 deep loamy soil, well enriched with good 

 manure at the time of planting ; but does 

 not show its true character till it has 

 been planted several years. It rarely 

 fails, and is one of the least disappointing 

 of all. It may be readily increased from 

 root-scales, a fact which is taken advantage 

 of by many cultivators, and is the only 

 method of increasing and keeping pure 

 any really good or marked variety. Seed 

 is, however, the readiest 

 way of acquiring a stock (' 

 of this truly charming 

 plant. The seeds are 

 usually sown in large 

 shallow pans as soon as 1 , 



ripe, and remain there 

 for two years, by which I 

 time the bulbs have at- 

 tained a considerable 

 size; they are then planted 

 in beds in rows 6 in. apart, 

 with 4 in. between the 

 bulbs, replanting when 

 necessary. By this treat- 

 ment flowers are fre- 

 quently produced by seed- 

 ling" plants four or five 

 years after sowing. 



L. Parryi is a new and 

 distinct species from Cali- 

 fornia. It is of elegant j 

 slender growth, and 2 to i 

 4 ft. high, bearing grace- | 



ful trumpet-shaped flowers ^ 



of rich yellow, copiously 

 spotted with chocolate-red, 

 and delicately perfumed. Theflowersbeing 

 borne horizontally, render it very distinct. 

 It grows in elevated districts in South 

 California, in boggy ground. Not much 

 is known of its culture, but the finest 

 plants have been produced where the soil 

 was two thirds common peat and one 

 third loam, with plenty of coarse sand. 

 A bed in a shady spot was selected, in 

 which the bulbs were placed at a depth 

 of 4 in., having underneath about i ft. of 

 the soil. Here the strongest bulbs threw 

 up stems 4 ft. in height, and the greatest 

 number of blossoms on one stem for the 

 first season was si.\. 



L. pardalinum {Panf/ier Lily).— One 

 of the handsomest of the Californian 

 Lilies, and one of the most valuable for 

 English gardens, as it makes itself 



thoroughly at home in them and grows 

 as vigorously as in its native habitat. It 

 is 6 to 8 ft. high, and has large drooping 

 flowers of bright orange, spotted with 

 maroon. There are several varieties, the 

 most distinct being — Bourgtei, one of the 

 finest, having stout stems 6 to 7 ft. high, 

 with twelve to twenty flowers of bright 

 crimson, shading to orange, and freely 

 spotted with maroon, and blooming a 

 fortnight later than any other ; pallida, a 

 dwarf variety, scarcely 5 ft. high, bears 

 flowers nearly double the size of the type, 

 and paler in colour ; californicum, a more 

 slender variety, 3 to 4 ft. high, and the 

 brightest in colour ; pallidifolium (pube- 

 rulum), a small form, with lighter flowers ; 



1 



j and Robinsoni, a robust variety, with 

 I stout stems 7 to 8 ft. high, and with 

 massive foliage, large flowers of a bright 

 vermilion shading to yellow, and freely 

 spotted. This last is the noblest, and 

 should be grown if possible. The Panther 

 Lily is one of the most satisfactory of all 

 Lilies ; it has a strong constitution, in- 

 creases rapidly, soon becomes established, 

 and rarely pines away, as many kinds do. 

 It likes a deep, light, good soil, enriched 

 with plenty of decayed manure and leaf- 

 soil, where the roots can receive ample 

 moisture. It should always be in a 

 sheltered position, like the sunny side of 

 a bold group of shrubs or low trees. In 

 a special bed the near shelter of hedges 

 is desirable, though their roots should be 

 kept away. Bare borders are not the 

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