66 BRECK'S BOOK OF FLOWERS. 



exceedingly grand. Excavate the soil eighteen inches deep, 

 and fill in the bottom, a foot deep, with very coarse peat, inter- 

 mixed with one fifth of decayed manure or leaf mould. The 

 remaining six inches may be entirely peat. If the bulbs are 

 large enough to bloom, plant them twelve inches apart every 

 way ; arid if beds of each kind are brought into contact with 

 one another, the effect will be magnificent. 



" The following are the kinds I cultivate : Lilium lancifolium 

 album, L. punctatum, and L. speciosum. The old Japonicum is 

 also well worth growing." 



All our native Lilies are beautiful, and very much improved 

 by cultivation. While we are bringing together, from the ends 

 of the earth, the treasures of Flora, let not our own be neg- 

 lected. These may be taken from our fields and meadows, 

 when in bloom, by carefully taking them up with a ball of 

 earth, and in a few years will richly repay the trouble. 



Lilium superbum. Superb Lily. One of the most mag- 

 nificent of our native plants ; not common in the vicinity of 

 Boston, but in many parts of the state and in New York in 

 abundance. Stem erect, straight, from three to six feet high, 

 bearing a large pyramid of orange-colored flowers, not unfre- 

 quently numbering, when cultivated, thirty or forty. The 

 flowers are much reflexed. They are found in many varieties, 

 with flowers from a yellow to an orange scarlet; in bloom in 

 July. 



Lilium Canadense. Nodding Meadow Lily. This fine 

 Lily may be found embellishing our meadows in June, when 

 it rarely produces more than from one to five modest, nodding, 

 but showy, flowers, on stems one to three feet high. It is very 

 much improved by cultivation, and, when planted in rich ground, 

 has been known to grow five feet high, with a pyramid of at 

 least twenty of its pendulous flowers; color from yellow to 

 deep orange scarlet. The flowers are profusely spotted with 

 brown, on the inside,.^nd are but little reflexed. 



Lilium Philadelphicvm. The Common Red Lily of our 

 pastures and dry fields; equal, if not superior, in beauty, to 



