JUNE 149 



of lime, full exposure to sunshine, and to be left alone. 

 Moreover, it ripens plenty of seed, and the seed- 

 lings flower — a few at two and most at three years 

 old. 



That the tiger lily (i. tigrinum) is common, cheap, 

 and easily grown detracts from it as a treasure of 

 highest order only in the eyes of those whose opinion 

 is not worth consulting, namely, those who esteem a 

 flower chiefly for its rarity and because their neighbours 

 do not or cannot grow it. If the tiger lily were as 

 scarce and difficult, say, as Leichtlin's lily, what pseans 

 would be chanted in its praise ! It is indeed a glorious 

 plant, and it is only familiarity that tends to cool our 

 admiration. There are two varieties from the type, 

 and both are superior to it, but it is hard to say which 

 is the finer — L. t. splendeus, with very dark, shining 

 stem, and L. t. Fortunei, with whitish wool on the stems. 

 As for the double-flowered monstrosity, if the only bulb 

 thereof in the world lay in my path, I'd set my heel 

 on it. Unluckily, it is plentiful in the trade. The 

 tiger lily dislikes lime and stipulates for rapid 

 drainage. 



Here am I at the end of my half-dozen, and lo ! I 

 have forgotten to put in a scarlet lily. I must stretch 

 a point and squeeze in a seventh, for scarlet, mark 

 you, is a hue greatly to be prized in British gardens, 

 inasmuch as it is displayed by no native British flower. 

 Corn poppies and scarlet pimpernel ? Yes, but are not 

 they alien weeds of cultivation, brought hither with 

 agricultural seeds and now furnished with letters of 

 naturalisation. That may or may not be; anyhow, a 



