LAY-OUT OF STATELY GARDENS 313 



Lavender may be used to beautify walks. Bushes 

 in some sunny corner of the garden are pretty for 

 picturesque growth and color. Lavender can be 

 grouped so as to give a touch of silvery gray to the 

 border. It permits itself to be clipped, and it must 

 be cared for, or it will grow twisted and gnarled. If 

 flower-spikes are desired, the lavender must be 

 clipped in autumn; if the gray leaf is all that is 

 desired then it must be clipped in the spring before 

 the young twigs have begun to grow. 



LILIES. The lily bed should be deep three feet 

 if possible, the soil open and porous without being 

 light. There cannot be a better material than sound 

 fibrous loam with which leaf -mold has been mixed. 

 Lilies are rarely benefited by animal manure. The 

 bed should be sheltered from boisterous winds, for 

 lilies lose half their beauty if it becomes necessary 

 to stake their graceful stems, and partially shaded 

 so that the sun does not parch the ground, or pre- 

 maturely wither their dainty petals. In times of 

 drought the beds should be given a copious soaking 

 of an hour or two's duration. 



The Madonna Lily is a great favorite and is very 

 effective in small clumps against a background of 

 shrubs and in borders. Unfortunately it is subject 

 to disease. It is bulbous. Propagate by offsets, 



