ON LILIES 249 



should be added in sufficient quantity to make the soil 

 crumbly and friable. 



Given due preparation of the soil, the golden-rayed 

 Lily will thrive in town gardens, and no finer plant 

 will ever grace the suburbanist's border. Most town 

 gardens have shelter, if only that of walls or fences, 

 and that is no small point in the plant's favour. The 

 town gardener will find that half a bushel of fibrous 

 loam from the nearest florist's and another half-bushel 

 of road scrapings will help him greatly in preparing 

 a site for his clump of Lilies. He might form a group 

 of from three to six, according to the space available, 

 and set the bulbs a foot apart on a base of pure sand in 

 spring. Reliable Japanese bulbs are not available before 

 January. 



In large country gardens it may be possible to form 

 a Lily border in a sheltered place, such as along the 

 front of a shrubbery, or under a kitchen-garden wall. 

 If there are large trees near the shrubbery their roots 

 may be expected to make for the spot, in quest of the 

 good things provided for the Lilies, and it may be 

 necessary to keep a trench open at the back to check 

 their advance. If possible, a site near trees should be 

 avoided, because the shade, and still more the drip, from 

 large trees is bad. In the case of a wall border there 

 is no objection to planting creepers to cover the wall ; 

 on the contrary, it is advisable, as a flower-covered wall 

 makes a beautiful and appropriate background. Roses 

 are eminently suitable, as, in spite of their vigorous 

 growth, they are not plants which throw out coarse, 

 rambling roots, but produce a mat of fibres immediately 

 around the stem. Warm-coloured Roses, like Bardou 

 Job, Cheshunt Hybrid, and Reine Marie Henriette, must 

 be included in the collection. Clematises also look well 



