PLANTING LILIES. 



H CARDINAL point in the cul- 

 ture of lilies is to keep them 

 under ground. Order the 

 bulbs early, so that they need 

 not remain long in the importer's storage 

 room ; plant them as soon as they are 

 received, and never in subsequent trans- 

 planting allowed them to remain one 

 minute longer above ground than is 

 absolutely necessary. Frequent removals 

 of lilies are to be deplored. The bulbs 

 should not be disturbed so long as they 

 flower satisfactorily. Root growth for 

 another season begins as soon as the 

 tops die down. The hardiness of lilies 

 is usually over-estimated. As a general 

 thing they suffer from shallow planting 

 and often the necessary winter mulch is 

 forgotten. Lilies should be covered at 

 least four inches in a heavy soil, and 

 from six to eight inches in a light one. 

 I plant my lilies in pure sand, and mulch 

 them after the tops die down with cow 

 manure, over which later on is spread a 

 thick layer of half-decayed leaves. The 

 lillies are planted along the shrubbery 

 border, with special M pockets " of sand 

 hollowed out for them here and there. 

 The foliage of the shrubs protects the 

 roots of the lilies, and their buds and 

 flowers here have leaves enough to form 

 a good background. The shrub-roots 

 also drain the soil all that is necessary. 

 — Vicks Magazine. 



In planting lilies, as everything else, 

 white flowers must not be overlooked ; 

 as Ellwanger says, " White is the lens 

 of the garden's eye," and in a class so 

 generally conspicuous for its glowing 

 colors we need the snowy purity of the 

 Madonna lily (Z. candidum) or the state- 

 ly waxen blooms of the tall annunciation 

 lily (Z. longiflorum). * * The use 

 of tall-growing and showy bulbs is sin- 

 gularly effective in connection with 

 shrubbery, the arrangement looks so 

 delightfully natural, breaking as it does 

 the monotony of similar sizes of shrubs 

 or foliage. Certainly, the nearer we 

 approach nature in arranging our gar- 

 dens the nearer we are to actual har- 

 mony ; it is rather hard to imagine how 

 we ever could manage to reconcile our 

 consciences to carpet-bedding. It should 

 be a great comfort to the lily tribe to 

 feel that they can never be tortured into 

 an even mosaic, looking more like a few 

 yards of linoleum than a flower-bed. 

 But there are plenty of misguided people 

 still living who admire this form of gar- 

 den art (?) and until they wake to the 

 error of their ways we shall continue to 

 see bedding plants misarranged after 

 the model of carpets. — American Gar- 

 dening. 



Swainsonia. — This plant delights in growth progresses. Shade in the heat 

 a compost of peat and loam, with good of the day during summer, and syringe 



drainage. If peat cannot be obtained a 

 fibrous soil will answer, prepared by 

 piling sods, manure and sand, and allow- 

 ing the pile to remain undisturbed until 

 partially rotted, stirring well before using. 

 Pot the young plants in this material, 

 using three-inch pots, and pinch back 

 the shoots and shift into larger pots as 



regularly to keep down the red spider. 

 If aphides appear fumigate with tobacco. 

 Give support as needed. With good 

 drainage, regular supplies of water, and 

 attention to the above cultural hints, 

 none should have reason to complain of 

 non-blooming. — Park's Monthly. 



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