22 



The Canadian Horticulturist. 



LILY OF THE VALLEY. 



While we see hyacinths, crocuses, daffodils, and all kinds of narcissi bloorn- 

 ing in our friends' windows in winter, we seldom see lilies of the valley. Writers 

 in floral magazines almost always insist that they cannot be made to blossom in 

 an ordinary window, saying that even florists find it hard to succeed with them. 

 My experience has been somewhat different, and so far I never had a complete 

 failure with them. Sometimes, to be sure, they do better than at others, but I 

 can usually trace it to some fault of my own. 



When I take pips from my own garden I do not have as good success 



usually as when I procure them from 

 a florist quite late in the season. I 

 have had them as late as January and 

 they blossomed all right. 



I plant the pips closely in a large 

 pot or box with the head of the pip a 

 trifle above the soil. Then I put a 

 layer of sphagnum over the soil, water 

 them well and set them away in a dark 

 place where they will freeze a little. 

 After a while I bring them out into a 

 warm atmosphere but do not give them 

 the full heat of a sunny window for 

 several days. Gradually they are 



Fig. 895. Fig. 896.— Lily of the Valley Pip. 



brought to it, and soon the buds appear. The moss is left on and is always 

 kept moist, as a florist once told me that if the heads of the pips ever becomes 

 dry all hope of blossoms is gone. Nothing can be sweeter than the dainty little 

 white bells, and as they are general favorites it is a pity they are not more 

 generally seen in our windows in winter. — Vicks' Magazine. 



