LILIUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



LILIUM. 



539 



grown plants. It will be well, however, 

 if, by rapid increase or otherwise, 

 they become plentiful enough to adorn 

 the smallest cottage gardens. Several 

 Lilies, chiefly Japanese and Californian, 

 are largely imported every year. As 

 soon as received, all bulbs should be 

 examined, and decaying matter should 

 be removed. They should then be 

 laid in soil, or, better still, cocoa-nut 

 fibre in a moderate condition of 

 moisture, until the bulbs recover 

 their plumpness and the roots are on 

 the point of starting from the base. 

 Then they should be potted or planted 

 out as required ; but, before this, de- 

 caying scales should have been again 

 removed, as a few of the outside ones 

 are often bruised in transit, and after 

 they have been in the soil a little time 

 decay sets in, which if not then taken 

 off may contaminate the whole bulb. 

 Of those so imported, L. auratum 

 and Krameri should, when potted, be 

 surrounded with sand, but some do 

 well without it. The most difficult 

 to import among the N. American 

 Lilies are L. W ashingtonianum and L. 

 rubescens, since, as a rule, they suffer 

 much more than the large, solid bulbs 

 of L. Humboldti, or than those of 

 pardalinum, canadense, and superbum. 

 These solid bulbs should" be treated 

 as above directed, but L. W ashing- 

 tonianum, rubescens, and Humboldti 

 should not be potted, as they never 

 succeed in that way ; and indeed 

 all the N. American Lilies do much 

 better if planted out. Those grown 

 in Holland, such as the varieties of 

 davuricum, elegans, and speciosum, 

 etc., arrive plump and sound, but it is 

 much better to lay even these in soil a 

 little while before potting. 



L. AURATUM. Some forms have flowers 

 nearly i foot across, with broad white 

 petals copiously spotted with reddish- 

 brown, and having broad bands of golden- 

 yellow down the centre. The poorest 

 forms have starry flowers and scarcely 

 any markings. Several named varieties 

 are particularly distinct, and the chief are 

 cruentum and rubro-vittatum, which have 

 deep crimson instead of yellow bands down 

 the petals. Rubro-vittatum is a variety 

 with a very distinct bulb, the foliage is 

 darker, and it is a hardier, better doer 

 than the type. Platyphyllum is also more 

 easily grown than the type, more vigorous, 

 and quite the best generally. The white- 

 petalled variety of platyphyllum, generally 

 called virginale, is perhaps one of the most 

 beautiful forms. Wittei and virginale, 

 the flowers of which have no colour but 

 the golden bands ; rubro-pictum, with a 



red stripe and spots ; platyphyllum, with 

 very large flowers and broad leaves ; and 

 Emperor, a grand flower, with reddish 

 spots and centre. There are also some 

 beautiful hybrids raised between L. aura- 

 tum and some of the other species ; for 

 example, L. Parkmanni (between L. aura- 

 tum and L. speciosum}, which has large 

 white flowers banded and spotted with 

 carmine-crimson. It grows freely in peat 

 or loam, a mixture of both with, a little 

 road-scrapings best fulfilling its require- 

 ments. Where the soil is naturally poor, 

 light, and sandy, it should be taken out 

 to a depth of 18 inches, and replaced with 

 the compost above mentioned, or some 

 fine well-enriched mould. The bulbs 

 should be planted in this, and as soon as 

 growth commences in spring, should be 

 mulched with decomposed manure or 

 short grass. If the garden soil be fairly 

 good, it need only be well stirred and 

 manured, but the manure should be 

 thoroughly decomposed. A sheltered 

 situation should be chosen, and, if possible, 

 screened from the midday sun, and pro- 

 tected from westerly and southerly gales 

 and from heavy driving rains ; for this 

 Lily is very susceptible to injury by cold 

 draughts and cutting winds. No better 

 place can be chosen than a snug nook 

 sheltered from the north and east by 

 shrubs, but at the same time open to the 

 sun. The best examples that have been 

 seen were grown in a Rhododendron bed, 

 and planted in a deep, moist, peaty soil, 

 where they have been for years undis- 

 turbed. When planted among - other 

 things the young and tender uprising 

 shoots are greatly protected in spring. 

 As to propagation, there is scarcely any 

 need to enlarge upon that, as bulbs are 

 imported so plentifully ; and it is only 

 necessary to separate the young bulbs and 

 replant them in good soil. Those who 

 increase this Lily from seed must be pre- 

 pared to exercise a little patience, as the 

 seed is long germiriating, and the seedlings 

 are several years before flowering. The 

 seed should be sown, as soon as ripe, in a 

 frame. The seedlings should be planted 

 out as soon as the bulbs are of an appreci- 

 able size. 



L. BAKERIANUM. A charming Lily 

 covering a wide area of country from 

 Upper Burmah to W. and C. China, grow- 

 ing on steep rocky slopes amongst tall 

 grass and brush- wood, and very variable 

 in its character. It is a delicate plant 

 not easy to keep in health, seeming to need 

 a drier and warmer climate than can easily 

 be given it in this country. The bulbs 

 are small, throwing slender grey stems of 

 i to 3 feet, sparingly covered with three- 

 nerved leaves. The stems are crowned 

 with umbels of medium-sized drooping 

 flowers, one to six in number, fragrant 

 and creamy-white in colour when fully 



