1864 



LILIUM 



LILIUM 



nourishment. In such places, they will receive a free 

 circulation of light and air, but the the full force of the 

 hot midday sun cannot reach them. 



Protection from cold and wind. 



In cold climates, the bulbs of all lilies should be pro- 

 tected from freezing during winter by a heavy cover- 

 ing of leaves, hay or straw. Some species, as L. 

 bulbiferum, L. candidum, L. elegans, L. tigrinum, are 

 apparently not greatly injured if the bulbs freeze, 

 but frost is fatal to many, especially the Californian 

 and Indian species, and even the hardiest kinds will do 

 better if the bulbs are protected from it. Frost some- 

 times also injures the tender young growth of L. 

 auratum, L. chalcedonicum, L. Hansonii, L. longiflorum, 

 L. speciosum, L. testaceum and others which appear above 

 ground very early in spring. This can be prevented by 

 covering the plants with old sheets, or something simi- 

 lar, on cold nights when frost is expected. 



To prevent the stems of lilies from being broken by 

 high winds, each plant or clump should be supported 

 with a stick or stake, preferably of bamboo, tying them 

 together with soft yam or twine. It is better, however, 

 wherever possible, to plant lilies in such a way that 

 they will not require staking, as this deprives them of 

 their natural gracefulness of swaying with the breeze. 



The planting. 



The best tune to plant lily bulbs is soon after the 

 flowers fade or seeds ripen. They cannot always be 

 obtained at that time, however, imported ones often 

 not being received until late in autumn or winter. In 

 the northern states, the places intended for these late- 

 received bulbs should be prepared previously and 

 covered with 5 or 6 inches of leaves or litter, to prevent 

 the ground from freezing. This should be removed and 

 the bulbs planted as soon as received, afterward 

 replacing it as a winter mulch. Or, if preferred, the 

 bulbs may be packed hi boxes of sand, leaf-mold or 

 sphagnum moss and stored in a cool dark frost-proof 

 cellar, closet, or shed until spring, when they should be 

 planted. The material they are packed in must be 

 kept constantly moist, neither too wet nor too dry. In 

 this connection it might be well to add a few words of 

 advice in regard to the purchase of lily bulbs. Whenever 

 possible, freshly dug home-grown bulbs should be 

 secured or at least those which have been shipped only 

 short distances, which have not been deprived of their 

 roots, and whose scales have not become dried or 

 shriveled. Such bulbs, although they may cost more 

 than imported ones, which have often been kept out of 

 the ground for several months, are well worth the 

 difference. 



No definite rules can be given in regard to the proper 

 depth and distance apart to plant the bulbs, but usually 

 they should be set so that their top or apex will be three 

 times as deep as their greatest diameter. The smaller- 

 growing species, as L. concolor, L. elegans, and L. 

 tenuifolium, may be planted about 6 inches apart, 

 while from 12 to 18 inches is not too much space for 

 the largest species, like L. auratum, L. tigrinum, and 

 so on. When planting the bulbs, it is a good plan to 

 surround each one with sand or fine gravel, which helps 

 to drain away surplus moisture and also tends to repel 

 worms. Some growers also place a handful of fresh 

 sphagnum moss under each bulb, thinking it induces a 

 better root-growth. 



It is the nature of many lilies to throw out annual 

 fibrous roots from the underground stem above the 

 bulb (called stem-roots), in addition to the large 

 permanent ones at its base (called basal or bulb-roots) . 

 The following species and their varieties belong to this 

 class: L. auratum, L. Batemannise, L. Brownii, L. bul- 

 biferum, L. concolor, L. croceum, L. dauricum, L. elegans, 

 L. Hansonii, L. Henryi, L. japonicum, L. Leichtlinii, 

 L. longiflorum, L. Maximowiczii, L. medeoloides, L. odo- 



rum, L. regale, L. rubellum, L. Sargentiae, L. speciosum, 

 L. sulphureum, L. sutchuenense, L. tigrinum and L. 

 Wallacei. 



The following species and their varieties produce but 

 few, if any, stem-roots: L. Bolanderi, L. callosum, L. 

 canadense, L. candidum, L. carniolicum, L. carolini- 

 anum, L. chalcedonicum, L. columbianum, L. giganteum, 

 L. Grayi, L. Humboldtii, L. Kelloggii, L. maritimum, 

 L. Martagon, L. monadelphum, L. pardalinum, L. 

 Parryi, L. parviflorum, L. parvum, L. philadelphicum, 

 L. pomponium, L. pyrenaicum, L. Roezlii, L. superbum, 

 L. tenuifolium, L. testaceum and L. washingtonianum. 



The bulbs of these non-stem-rooting species, when 

 not received or planted until late autumn or spring, often 

 remain dormant until the second summer, because the 

 basal roots, on which the flower-stem must depend 

 entirely for its support, have been cut off or dried up 

 by exposure to the air, and consequently the bulbs are 

 so weakened that it takes them a year or more to 

 recover and form new roots. Sometimes, however, a 

 small weak stem develops the first summer, which soon 

 perishes without flowering. On the contrary, the stem- 

 rooting species usually bloom well the first summer 

 after planting, because, even if the bulbs do not pro- 

 duce roots they are formed at the base of the stem, 

 which is nourished and supported by them. 



Propagation. 



Lilies are propagated by division of the offsets, by 

 bulbils, by scales or by seeds. The best and easiest 

 method with most species is by division of the offsets, 

 which form at the base of the parent bulb, on the under- 

 ground stem above the bulb, or on the end of a rhizome. 

 The best time to do this dividing and replanting is 

 from two to four weeks after the flowers fade or imme- 

 diately after seeds ripen, as that is the only time the 

 bulbs are really dormant and many species greatly 

 dislike to be disturbed when the roots are in active 

 growth. The clumps should be carefully dug up and the 

 large flowering bulbs planted immediately where they 

 are to remain permanently, while the smaller ones may 

 be planted in beds by themselves, removing them to 

 their permanent location when they become large 

 enough to bloom, which will usually be in two or three 

 years. 



Sometimes, when separating and replanting the 

 bulbs, fresh healthy scales become detached. If these 

 are planted in rows 2 inches apart and 1 or 2 inches 

 deep, in light sandy soil, either in boxes, coldframes or 

 the open ground, one or more tiny bulbs will usually 

 form at the base of each scale, where it was broken off. 

 These will become large enough to bloom in two or 

 three years. 



L. bulbiferum, L. Sargentiae, L. suphureum and L. 

 tigrinum and its varieties usually produce small dark 

 green or purple bulbils or bulblets in the upper leaf- 

 axils. If these are removed before they drop to the 

 ground and planted, like the detached scales, they will 

 bloom in two or three years. 



Raising lilies from seeds is very interesting, but it 

 requires time, care and patience. Under favorable 

 conditions, most lilies will produce seeds, but a few 

 species often remain sterile, unless the flowers are 

 hand-fertilized. Among these may be mentioned L. 

 Brownii, L. candidum, L. Hansonii, L. longiflorum, L. 

 speciosum, L. sulphureum, L. testaceum, L. tigrinum, 

 L. Wallichianum and some varieties of L. elegans. 

 Freshly-gathered seeds, sown soon after they ripen, 

 will germinate more quickly than those which have 

 been kept until they become hard and dry, but in all 

 cases the period of time required for germination varies 

 greatly with the species. For example, fresh seeds of 

 L. tenuifolium will often germinate in a month, or even 

 less, while those of L. auratum and many others will 

 seldom germinate until the following spring and often 

 not until a year later. Similarly, the time required for 



