HERBACEOUS PLANTS. 175 



fine. The variety of color — for even of the same 

 species no two plants are alike. in shading — was 

 also vefy pleasing. 



Another species, which is never seen in full beauty 

 unless planted in Rhododendron soil, is the Purple 

 Martagon. This past year bulbs of this kind, two 

 years planted, threw up stalks over four feet in 

 height, which produced from twenty to thirty 

 flowers each. 



L. Catesboei, the Southern Red Lily, also grows 

 and blooms very freely, as do also all the varieties 

 of L. umbellatum, aurantium, and croceum. The 

 noble L. auratum seems to thrive better in a soil of 

 peat, loam, and sand ; and we had, the last summer, 

 stalks an inch in diameter and four feet high, the 

 largest giving seventeen flowers from bulbs two 

 years planted. 



The Japan Lilies, while blooming in the Rhodo- 

 dendron-bed, do not, however, exhibit any remark- 

 able luxuriance. They are, however, very effective, 

 as the background of dark evergreen foliage sets off 

 the large, white flowers to great advantage. 



The same may be said of the beautiful Long-flow- 

 ered Lily (i. longiflorum') and the Scarlet Martagon 

 (L. chalcidonicum) ; indeed the latter does not suc- 

 ceed in peat. 



The old white Lily (i. candidum) seems also to 

 prefer a lighter and more sandy soil. 



Some of the rarer species, such as L. tenuifolium, 

 pumilum, and kamtschaticum, are very showy 

 planted on the borders of Rhododendron-beds. 



