J46 



THE FLORISTS* MANUAL. 



ary. In a batch of 2,000 bulbs treated 

 thus we did not have a single diseased 

 plant, so the Bermuda disease is not bad 

 in the land of the Shinto. 



The longiflorum in good, well drained 

 loam is hardy in this latitude, but would 

 be benefited by a covering of litter every 

 fall after the stems are dry. We have 

 frequently planted out the plants of Har- 

 risii that had been grown and cut at 

 Easter. If a good piece of stem is left, 

 so much the better. Many of them will 

 send up a flower stalk from which you 

 will get a few flowers in July and Au 

 gust. This is all the use you can make 

 of them. To force any of them again is 

 out of the question. 



I know no cure for, or any means of 

 detecting, a diseased bulb. It is to be 

 hoped with a change of soil and care in 

 discarding diseased plants and bulbs that 

 our Bermuda friends will in future sup 

 ply us with a higher grade of bulbs. One 

 of the advantages I intended to mention 



roseum and rubrum are merely varieties 

 of speciosum. They are all about identi 

 cal in growth. They are not forced for 

 winter or spring, but are very accepta 

 ble in July arid August, when we are 

 often short of flowers. With a covering 

 of leaves over the ground during winter, 

 they are quite hardy with us. 



We receive the bulbs (from Japan) in 

 late fall and winter, and they are well 

 packed, losing little of their strength in 

 the long journey. We used to try these 

 in coldframes during winter, but it was 

 not a success, and now we never fail by 

 potting them in 7-inch and 8-inch pots, 

 three bulbs in a pot. Put them in dry 

 loam a trifle below the surface, but do 

 not water them, and place the pots be 

 neath your coolest bench, where there is 

 the least drip. If the soil is moderately 

 moist the bulbs will remain seven or 

 eight weeks without starting or making 

 any growth. When they do start and 

 have grown a few inches they must be 



Lilium Rubellum. 



in starting the large bulbs in small pots 

 was that by shifting time you will be 

 able to discover most of the diseased 

 plants, and will not have wasted space, 

 labor and soil on them nearly so much 

 as you would in 6-inch or 7-inch. 



Lilium lancifolium (which correctly is 

 L. speciosum) is next to the longiflorum 

 most valuable to the florist; album 



given the light and grown on, but coolly. 



Any of the lilies, either the longi 

 florum or lancifolium, want little water 

 till they have made good roots, but after 

 starting they soon fill the pots with 

 roots, and from then on they want an 

 abundance of w r ater. 



When the lancifolium lilies are in 

 flower, and before they are in flower, 



they should be given the coolest house, 

 with all the ventilation possible. It is 

 midsummer when these lilies are in 

 flower, so if kept cool and shaded the 

 plants will be stronger, the flowers larger 

 and they will last longer. Out of doors 

 in a sheltered and shady place will do 

 for the lancifolium type very well for 

 the last month. 



These lilies are much troubled with 

 greenfly and need fumigating occasion 

 ally. They have a most delightful odor, 

 agreeable to all. 



The bulbs of Lilium lancifolium need 

 not be thrown away. They are worth 

 planting out in some good soil and will 

 grow for years. We have also forced 

 them the second year with good success. 

 If you intend to do this, don t throw the 

 bulbs under the bench as soon as the 

 flowers are cut, but stand them out of 

 doors and keep watered till the foliage is 

 gone and the stems are dry, when they 

 can be cut off and the pots stored under 

 a very cool bench during winter. In 

 February shake them out and repot and 

 treat as those first imported. If bulbs 

 are not received till March, then they can 

 be given a bench at once, but little water 

 till they start. 



Lilium auratum, most gorgeous of all 

 the family, has flowers sometimes a foot 

 across, with broad bands of yellow and 

 beautifully spotted, which gave it the 

 name of the golden rayed lily of 

 Japan. It grows from two to three 

 feet and strong, healthy bulbs frequently 

 bear fifteen to twenty flowers. We can 

 very well remember the introduction of 

 this magnificent lily and the sensation it 

 created when first flowered. It has long, 

 narrow leaves. 1 have never seen it here 

 out of doors where it has been treated as 

 a hardy lily, but with good care and in 

 well drained soil it may be quite hardy, 

 as large masses of it are perfectly hardy 

 in Scotland; and plantings of several 

 hundred bulbs are a rich sight. We treat 

 it precisely as we do the lancifolium sec 

 tion. It has a powerful odor, too much 

 for most people, and this forbids its use 

 as a decorative plant or as a cut flower 

 in designs. Unfortunately many im 

 ported bulbs make but a poor growth. 



Before the splendid forcing qualities 

 of the L. Harrisii were known, and when 

 the growing of the bulbs in Bermuda was 

 not an industry as it now is, we used to 

 grow and force the beautiful Lilium can- 

 didum. Its delightful, pure pearl-white 

 spikes were in great demand for cutting, 

 as well as for Easter plants. It would 

 be useless to describe our manner of fore- 

 ing (although it differed little from that 

 of the longiflorum), because it is en 

 tirely superseded. It should be always 

 grown wherever you have ground to grow 

 it. It does well in rather a heavy soil 

 and should not be disturbed for several 

 years. Its beautiful flowers are always 

 in demand when in season, with us the 

 end of June and July. 



There are no other lilies grown in pots 

 for commercial use. Many species 

 doubtless could be, but would not be 

 profitable. Beds of L. longiflorum and 

 candidum should be on every florist s 

 place. And if you have the room, many 

 other species are beautiful plants for the 



