132 A Little Maryland Garden 
beautiful blooms, and perhaps the next a 
poor, weak plant appears, and dies without 
producing a flower. Speciosum lilies, that 
are called hardy; live for years with me, 
but bloom only once; auratum disappear at 
the end of the first year; longiflorum bloom 
splendidly, and make new bulbs that 
come into flower the third year from the 
original planting, if I remember rightly. I 
must except the tiger lilies and the Madonna 
lilies, which persist when they are once es- 
tablished. Some years ago I bought several 
bulbs of the Lilium pomponium, and put 
them in the sunnier end of the fern bed. 
They spring up year after year, but so far 
have refused to nod their red turbans over 
the ferns. 
But even if they are uncertain, lilies are 
well worth growing. The Japanese speczo- 
sum are charmingly dainty and winning. 
They have a delicate fragrance, and I can 
think of nothing prettier than a group of 
them against a background of soft southern 
wood, bending down their pretty faces. I 
