JUNE 147 



The Nankin lily does not flower till July; it was 

 owing to the adoration I bear towards her mother 

 that I gave her precedence over the Caucasian belle 

 (L. tnonadelphum) which begins early in June, disputing 

 with the Pyrenean turk's cap (L. Pyrenaicum) the 

 honour of opening the lily season. L. monadelphum 

 (would that some ingenious person would devise an 

 English name for it ! ) is among the hardiest of its clan 

 and the easiest to cultivate. Only one precaution is 

 necessary, namely, to provide it with lime in the soil, 

 which, of course, should be well drained. It will flourish 

 and flower without lime for several seasons; but our 

 experience is that, without that condiment, the clumps 

 are apt to dwindle and ultimately to disappear. 



The panther lily (L. pardalinum) stands next in 

 my elite, and among the many varieties of this most 

 generous lily rnethinks the finest is Californicum, 

 which rears its chime of crimson and gold bells to a 

 height of six or seven feet. Unlike the two species 

 above named, this one detests lime as heartily as they 

 relish it. Peat and loam are its delight. In hot 

 districts and dry soils it requires something approach- 

 ing to bog ; but in the north it does quite satisfactorily 

 in ordinary borders. The finest display of this lily I 

 have seen is in Lady Dartmouth's bog-garden at 

 Patshull, in Staffordshire. A wonderful conflagration 

 takes place there in July, when hundreds of spires are 

 alight over a wide space of ground. 



In naming the martagon lily (L. r inartagon) next I 

 claim licence to include as a variety thereof the 

 swart Dalmaticum, albeit there is good ground for 



