AND THEIR CULTURE. 9 



found out by accident that our pets, the Lilies, were possessed of a 

 special advantage not belonging, so far as we know, to any other 

 garden flower, and one that, directly it was known, at once relieved 

 us from all care or desire to grow Lilies in pots. 



For after all, if the doubtful and special advantage of forcing Lilies 

 into bloom before their season is excepted, what is the great advantage 

 of pot culture ; only that thus plants may be shifted from one place 

 to another more suitable, viz., into conservatories, halls, drawing- 

 rooms, flower shows, &c. Well, that may be had without trouble 

 and without pot culture so far as Lilies are concerned. Plant out en 

 masse Lilies in the quarters specially appropriated and made fit for 

 each kind; then, when just coming into bloom, take up your plant 

 carefully, roots and all, in a mass, and plunge into a large pot, ready 

 crocked, and with some rough cocoa-fibre or sphagnum moss at 

 bottom, water freely, and your Lily is now moveable and ready to ( 

 be shifted where you like ; stand for 24 hours in a shady spot and ' 

 then you may put pot and Lily in hot sunshine without detriment, 

 for if carefully moved no flagging will take place. Here is an ad- 

 vantage possessed by Lilies alone ; the labour of watering your pots 

 is at once done away with, except during the time when your plant is 

 in flower, for after flowering you may replant your Lily. Space is 

 economised, for only when the flower is ready is the pot wanted, and 

 what will gratify gardeners of show places their Lily corner may 

 thus be in bloom from June to November by successional transplant- 

 ation as each sort comes on. Lilies so treated require to be watered 

 freely. It might, perhaps, be asked, how are the bulbs, thus taken 

 up and potted, affected by this treatment at the close of the season ? 

 In our experience, their roots are active, more so than usual ; the 

 bulbs firm and in no way inferior to those that have not been 

 disturbed. 



This successful result seems to be the one thing wanting to bring 

 Lilies into general use and popular favour, and if by writing these 

 notes, we help to bring into notice the most graceful of all flowers, 

 the Lilies, to show how easily they may be cultivated out of doors, 

 and when required for display brought readily into notice, our aim 

 will be attained. What flower can be more elegant for the button- 

 hole than some of the smaller Lilies, as, for instance, the bright 

 scarlet Concolor, or that graceful star, the canary-tinted Coridion? 

 What flower possesses more stately grace than the deeply reflexed 

 Brownii ? What in the distance is more striking than a tall stem of 

 Szovitzianuin, with its 20 or 30 straw-coloured bells, symmetrically 

 poised ? What for a lady's hair more becoming than a flower of the 

 Speciosum section? How long a time will cut Lilies remain fresh for 

 decoration! In very hot weather from two to three days, in cool 

 weather a week at least. We have known Concolor to be worn all 

 day in the button-hole without water, and placed drooping at night 



