THE GARDEN WEEK BY WEEK 



Feb. previous summer. It is because they generally bloom 

 I~I4 the year following the sowing that the Intermediate 

 Stocks are often described as biennials, but if they are 

 sown in February or March they will flower the same 

 year, and therefore they are annuals. Every owner of a 

 greenhouse who loves bright and fragrant Stocks should 

 make the acquaintance of the East Lothian section. He 

 can buy in separate colours, such as pink, scarlet, crim- 

 son, and white, or in mixture. By sowing this month in 

 a warm house, one gets plants in 

 bloom by mid-summer. The 

 same treatment as for other 

 seedlings raised in winter will 

 suffice, but particular attention 

 must be paid to watering and 

 ventilating, as young Stocks are 

 of all plants the most ready to 

 " damp off." 



Imported Japanese Lilies. — The 



golden-rayed Lilium Auratum is 



rather dear in autumn, because 



the only bulbs available then 



are English. The Japanese can 



grow the Lilies much cheaper than we, but they cannot 



get their bulbs to us until winter. Imported bulbs are 



generally plentiful and cheap in February. They are 



procurable from bulb merchants, who advertise in the 



horticultural papers, and also at auction sales. The 



defect of these bulbs is that they are sometimes loose 



and soft, but that is not fatal to flowering unless they are 



downright spongy. A batch of importations often yield 



different types of flower. If the grower gets a good pure 



white he has a treasure. The large while, with crimson 



spots, called Platyphyllum, is very fine, and so is the 



72 



Fig. 26.— Potting Liliums. 



a. Crocks for drainage. 



b. Bulb potted. 



c. Space left for future top- 



dressing. 



