LILIES 171 



village under the Wiltshire Downs, where, in the little 

 gardens in front of the cottages, this lily seemed to 

 grow like a weed. I believe there are two secrets, or 

 rather two things, to be remembered in the cultivation 

 of lilies ; one is that most of the lilies are wood-plants, 

 and so, though they require sunlight, and free circula- 

 tion of air, they certainly do better in partial shade ; 

 and it has been found that the grand golden lilies 

 (L. avratum) nowhere do better than when planted 

 amongst rhododendrons, which shade the roots, and do 

 not prevent the flowers from rising into full sunlight. 

 The other rule is not to keep the roots long out of the 

 ground, and, indeed, to keep them, if possible, entirely 

 undisturbed. This may be one reason why they often 

 do so well in cottage gardens they are let alone ; and 

 this was the rule among the old Dutch gardeners, as 

 laid down by LauremWgiua in 1632, 'Si cximcmli 

 tint e terra lilionim bulbi, proteniw aut paucis diebus 

 interpositis reponantur.' 



In my garden I find that the easiest to grow are Afar- 

 higon and its varieties, Croccum, Tesk\ffum t Pomponium^ 

 fyrenaicum, and Califvrnicum ; but if I had to do with 

 another garden, I should not be surprised to find that 

 my experience would be very different. 



In one respect roses bear the palm over lilies. 

 Nearly all roses (except some of the modern hybrids) 



