THE LURE OF THE LILY 181 



were removed to the new garden as the dooryard was 

 in such a hopeless tangle that it required strenuous 

 measures. The Tiger Lilies suffered the change most 

 graciously, but the lovely white Madonna Lilies have 

 sulked a bit. In the dooryard they had probably been 

 left absolutely alone for years, and the ground over 

 their bulbs was baked as hard as iron, and these con- 

 ditions are, the wise ones tell us, exactly what this Lily 

 prefers: it will stand anything save damp and coddling, 

 and sometimes it will do well and sometimes it will not, 

 whatever the conditions. Certainly it is loveliest of 

 Lilies, and when one is vouchsafed a truly happy group 

 of them, shining above the hoary foliage of Southern- 

 wood or in some other pleasant association, one is filled 

 with rejoicing. One may dust the bulbs well with 

 sulphur, set them out in August in a sunny spot, and 

 leave them alone and, of course, one may hope. 



With the Tiger Lilies the story is quite different, for 

 they seldom have the heart to disappoint any one, and 

 they are among the very finest of hardy plants. Many 

 people care only for the rare and difficult in the floral 

 world, but it is not with these that we get our broad and 

 satisfying colour masses, however interesting it may be 

 to conquer and bring into subjection the wild spirit of 

 some unwilling plant from torrid or frigid zone, from 

 mountain peak or desert sands, and the ease with which 

 this Lily may be coaxed to give of its best, and the 

 small cost at which it may be procured, should not 



