50 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



January, 



Lilies and Lilies.— Two Classes of 

 Good Plants. 



To speak of Day Lilies apart from any 

 descriptive clue as to the plants referred to 

 is to leave many intelligenl plant growers in 



DAY LILIES GROWING AT THE WATER'S EDGE. 



doubt concerning what is meant. This is 

 because both of those valuable classes of 

 hardy flowers, the Funkias and the Hemer- 

 ocalises. receive very widely the same name, 

 Day Lilies. Some years ago it was sug- 

 gested by a prominent horticulturist to re- 

 name the former genus as the Plantain Lily, 

 from the resemblance of its leaves to those 

 of the common Plantain. The idea at once 

 met with favor from leading nurserymen 

 and botanists, and gradually now this ver}' 

 suitable name is coming into use. Neither 

 of the flowers here referred to belong to the 

 true Lilies, although both of them are near 

 relations being of the LiliaceiE order. 



The Day Lily, as a common name for the 

 Hemerocalis genus, 

 is quite as appropri- 

 ate as the new name 

 Plantain Lily is for 

 the Funkias. The 

 flowers of the for- 

 mer, as may be seen 

 in the cut shown 

 above, are decid 

 edly Lily-like in ap- 

 pearance, if some- 

 what smaller than 

 those of most of the 

 true Lilies. The 

 same thing is not 

 true of the blooms of 

 the Funkias, some 

 of which are well 

 shown in the larger 

 engraving herewith. 

 Then the fact that 

 the Da}' Lilies are 

 open only through 

 the day, while the 

 true Lilies are open 

 day and night.shows 

 the special fitness of 

 the former name as 

 the common one for the Hemerocalises. 



We are thus at pains to rightly set forth 

 this matter of common names, because no 

 two classes of plants we can think of are 



more worthy of wide culture than these; 

 they deserve to be well and correctlj' named. 



The Day Lilies (Hemerocalis). of which 

 about a half a dozen varieties and species are 

 named in the catalogues, are all free-grow- 

 ing and free-blooming hardy plants. They 

 have elegant, strong, grass-like foliage, and 

 the handsome flowers vary in hue from 

 tawny orange to clear yellow. One of the 

 finest species is the Yellow Day Lily, Hem- 

 erocalis flava a native of Siberia, and which 

 has beautiful clear yellow flowers, borne in 

 clusters on tall scapes. With many growers 

 this handsome, hardy flower passes merely 

 by the name of Yellow Lily, being perhaps 

 incorrectly taken for a true Lily. 



Of other Hemerocalises worthy of special 

 mention, there may be named H. fuha, a 

 free growing species, perfectly able to take 

 care of itself without cultivation or in the 

 wild garden, and having large coppery red 

 flowers; H. fulra fl. pi. like the latter, but 

 with partly double flowers, which endure for 

 some time; Grass- like Day Lily [H. gram- 

 inea) with deep yellow flowers and the nar- 

 rowest leaves of all, and H. disticfia, much 

 like the first named, but of freer bloom. ' 



There is also a variegated leaved Day 

 Lily, H Kwavso variegata, and a very orna- 

 mental plant it is when fully developed and 

 the variegation well marked. Other names 

 exist in the collections, but of kinds nearly 

 or quite identical with the above. It should 

 be said that the more robust growers, like 

 H. fulva and H. disticha. are quite at home 

 on the margins of ponds and rivers, and the 

 entire class will bear some measure of shade, 

 if must be, without complaint. 



The Funkias are anything but Lily-like 

 in appearance as the beautiful life-like en- 

 graving of the clumps of White Plantain 

 Lily shows. Than this magnificent species, 

 called botanically Punkia subcnrdata. there 

 is not known a finer hardy plant for the 

 flower garden or border. One is at a loss 

 to know which to admire most, its handsome 

 foliage which shows to advantage all through 

 the season, or its beautiful pure white, fra- 



but fewer flowers, and this is designated as 

 F. .nibcordata grandiflora. 



Of other Funkias some have narrower and 

 others broader foliage than the one here 

 illustrated, and there are some the leaves of 

 which are variegated or mottled with yellow, 

 and others with silver gray. A blue flower- 

 ing sort in our collection and known as F. 

 cwrulea has narrow, dark green, glossy fol- 

 iage; another, F. ovata, has Lilac-blue 

 flowers and broad shining leaves. Among the 

 variegated leaved sorts we may mention F. 

 suhcordata fol. var., with yellow markings, 

 and F. Fortuneii mac.ulata with the leaves 

 broadly marked with golden yellow. 



A good quality of the Plantain Lilies is 

 that, like the Day Lilies, they will bear con- 

 siderable shade without harm, hence they 

 are of special value for planting in the near 

 vicinity of buildings and trees. They do 

 best when grown in well-drained deep soil. 

 Plants may be procured from the leading 

 nurseries, and once possessed they are easily 

 increased by dividing the roots. 



A Window Box of Mignonette, 



Nothing is more charming than a window 

 box of growing and blooming Mignonette in 

 early Spring. There are two ways of setting 

 about securing this — the one, to wait until 

 spring and then buy the plants when ready to 

 bloom, of the florist, and the other to set one's 

 self about growing plants from seed. For this 

 purpose the seed may be sown at any time 

 now. It is best to start it in pots first and 

 keeping the plants here until just ready to 

 bloom, when they can be transferred to the 

 larger box, where a chance is afforded them to 

 branch out and flower for a long time. 



Use good fertile soil in the pots, such as can 

 be procured of any plant-grower. Keep the 

 earth moderately moist until the seeds are 

 up, after which water may be increased slightly 

 in quantity, but should be given in the fore- 

 noon, that the foliage may be dry by night. 

 Thin out the plants as fast as they grow up 

 until only five are left in a pot. 



In culture it is well to shade the tender plants 

 from the sun in the middle of the day, as other- 



CLUMPS OF PLANTAIN LILIES OR FUNKIAS ON THE LAWN. 



grant, bell-shaped flowers "that appear 

 throughout the summer. This species is 

 known in some catalogues as F. Japonica. 

 There is a variety of it also having larger 



wise the foliage will be discolored. For train- 

 ing, some small stakes can be placed in the pot, 

 and then later in the box at equal distances 

 apeirt, to which to tie the plants.' 



