58 NOTES ON LILIES 



up round the bulb, if cut off a little below the surface of the earth, readily 

 strike and form a bulb, and as more shoots come up I continue the 

 operation during the summer. I have got some of these to bloom the- 

 following year." Amateur. Garden, vol. 13, p. 160. 



" As an instance of finely flowered L. Auratum there was, in the- 

 autumn of 1875, in the garden of Mr. G. A. Partridge, of Westgate- 

 Street, Bury St. Edmunds, a plant of this Lily which bore no fewer than 

 fifty spikes, and was considered to be the finest specimen of this plant 

 that had been produced in that part of the country." Garden, vol. 8, 

 p. 220. 



Lilium Giganteum. " The soil of my garden, like that of the Rise of 

 East Sheen, continued into Richmond Park, is a gravel of a good binding 

 sort, excellent for the walks. It rests upon London clay. The depth of 

 the gravel with me is from 10 to 16 feet, and affords good drainage to the 

 beds ; but, for any special growth, loam and bog earth must be added. 

 The gravel was removed in 1860 to a depth of 8 or 10 feet, and many 

 loads of bog earth, with some loam and a little lime, were put in to receive- 

 the Rhododendrons and Azaleas, in the round Rhododendron bed on the 

 lawn. In May, 1872, 1 planted three bulbs of L. Giganteum in three of" 

 the interspaces of the Rhododendron bushes, which spaces had the best 

 aspect in regard to sunshine. 



" Silver sand, as usual, was put about each bulb, set at the depth of 6 

 inches, in the above soil, with the addition of old leaf-mould, which had 

 been rotted with occasional drenchings of diluted liquid manure. There 

 was a feeble sign of growth in the autumn of 1872,* and the bulbs were 

 protected through the winter of 1872 and 1873 by a slight covering of 

 dried Fern. In May, 1873, three of the leaves began to rise, and diverge 

 from each bulb. They were carefully protected from occasional frosts, 

 but no flower stem was developed this summer. After similar winter and 

 spring treatment (as against frosty nights in May), a grander spread of 

 the fine broad, bright, glossy, leaves appeared, and in June, 1874, I 

 occasionally gave the Lilies diluted liquid manure ; from one only of the 

 three did the magnificent columnar flower stem, 2 inches thick, spring up to 

 the height of 6 feet, which became crowned with nine flower buds, the 

 first of which opened on the 2nd of July, lasting to the 9th, and the others 

 in succession, with a like period of bloom. A broad band of violet con- 

 trasted with the enamelled whiteness of each gracefully recurved petal ; 

 and as one sauntered over the lawn in the vicinity of the large clustered 

 flowers, their delicate perfume, diffused through the summer air added to 



the pleasure. They formed seed pods 3 inches long by 1 J in diameter." 



Professor Owen, Garden, vol. 7, p. 191. 



L. Giganteum. " My experience of the hardiness of this stately Lily for 

 out-door cultivation quite confirms that of Professor Owen. I purchased 

 a small root of it four years ago and kept it for two years in a cold 

 frame, where it produced small healthy foliage for two successive years,, 

 but showed no indication of flowering, nor did it increase much in size. 

 In the autumn of 1872, I planted it out in a bed devoted to American 



* This was the result of planting in May, and a whole year was lost ; if the bulbs hai 

 been planted in October the growth would have been as described in 1873. 



