546 



LILIUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



LILIUM. 



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, how- 

 ever, the readiest way of acquiring a stock 

 of this truly charming plant. The seeds 

 are usually sown in large shallow pans as 

 soon as ripe, and remain there for two 

 years, by which time the bulbs have 

 attained a considerable size ; they are 

 then planted in beds in rows 6 inches 

 apart, with 4 inches between the bulbs, 

 replanting when necessary. By this treat- 

 ment flowers are frequently produced by 

 seedling plants four or five years after 

 sowing. 



L. PARDALINUM (Pan- 

 ther Lily). One of the r^r 

 handsomest of the Cali- 

 fornian 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 feet high, and has 

 large drooping flowers of 

 bright orange, spotted 

 with maroon. There are 

 several varieties, the most 

 distinct being Bowgcei, 

 one of the finest, having 

 stout stems 6 to 7 feet 

 high, with twelve to 

 twenty flowers of bright 

 crimson, shading to or- 

 ange, and freely spotted 

 with maroon, and bloom- 

 ing a fortnight later than 

 any other ; pallida, a 

 dwarf variety, scarcely 5 

 feet high, bears flowers 

 nearly double the size of 

 the type, and paler in 

 colour ; californicum, a 

 more slender variety, 3 to 4 feet high, and 

 the brightest in colour ; pallidifolium 

 (puberulum), a small form, with lighter 

 flowers ; and Robinsoni, a robust variety, 

 with stout stems 7 to 8 feet 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, increases 

 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 mois- 

 ture. 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 places where this 

 noble Lily does or looks best there is no 

 shelter or support for plants which in their 

 own country have many shrubs for com- 

 panions and are sheltered by the finest 

 trees of the northern world. 



L. PARRYI. A new and distinct species 

 from California, elegant and slender in 

 growth, and 2 to 4 feet high, bearing 

 graceful trumpet-shaped flowers of rich 

 yellow, copiously spotted with chocolate- 

 red, and delicately perfumed. The flowers 

 being borne horizontally, render it very 

 distinct. It grows in elevated districts in 

 S. 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 



Liliujn Parry i. 



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 inches, 

 having underneath about I foot of the 

 soil. Here the strongest bulbs threw up 

 stems 4 feet in height, and the greatest 

 number of 'blossoms on one stem for the 

 first season was six. 



L. POLYPHYLLUM. A rare and beautiful 

 Lily, 2 to 4 feet high, and having large 

 turban-shaped flowers of a waxy white, 

 copiously spotted and lined with purple. 

 N. India. Mr M Intosh of Duneevan, 

 Weybridge, who has been most successful 

 with it, writes : " Sandy loam, peat, or 

 leaf- mould, sand, and charcoal, with a 

 slight admixture of pulverised horse- 

 droppings, and good drainage under the 

 bulbs, are all I have to tell ; and I think 



