LILIUM 



LILY OBDEB 



843 



or broadly bell-shaped perianth consists 

 of 6 distinct erect, spreading, or recurved 

 segments, the 3 inner ones being usually 

 larger and broader than the 3 outer ones. 

 Stamens 6, hypogynous, with long slender 

 filaments bearing oblong brown, deep red, 

 or orange anthers. Fruit a 3-ceUed and 

 3-valved many-seeded capsule. 



Culture a/nd Propagation. — It is reaUy 

 astonishing that such fine flowering and 

 ornamental plants as the Liliums are 

 not more extensively grown in British 

 gardens. "With few exceptions, such 

 as neilgherrense and nepalense, they are 

 nearly all perfectly hardy in most parts 

 of the British Islands. In cold bleak 

 spots they may be protected and kept 

 fairly dry during their winter sleep by 

 covering the soil with straw, leaves, 

 litter &c. Or the bulbs may be taken up 

 after the foliage has withered, and stored 

 in dry sand or soil until planting time in 

 autumn or spring. It is, however, better 

 on the whole not to disturb the bulbs for 

 about 3 years, but to give them protec- 

 tion in winter, and a top dressing of weU- 

 rotted manure in spring as soon as growth 

 has commenced. 



Liliums are distributed throughout all 

 parts of the north temperate hemisphere 

 extending fi?om California in the west to 

 China and Japan in the east, across the 

 continents of N. America, Europe, and 

 Asia. They are therefore found naturally 

 growing in diiferent soils and under 

 various chmatio conditions, in all degrees 

 of sunshine and shadow, drought and 

 moisture. In the British flower garden 

 they are as a rule best in positions where 

 they will be shaded from the hot mid-day 

 sun, as the flowers will last much longer 

 than if exposed too much. They should 

 not, however, be planted in deep shade 

 under trees or among their roots, as 

 the latter absorb too much food and 

 naoisture from the Lilies, while the over- 

 hanging boughs prevent the rain from 

 reaching the bulbs in sufficient quantity. 

 During vigorous growth Lilies like 

 plenty of water, but the soil must at the 

 same time be so well drained that it 

 shall readily pass away from the bulbs. 



As a rule the bulbs of strong-growing 

 kinds, like auratum, speciosum, and 

 monadelphum, should be planted fi-om 

 6 to 10 inches deep according to the size of 

 the bulb. By placing a piece of fibrous 

 peat beneath each bulb and putting a good 

 handful of sand over each at planting 



time, the roots will develop more quickly 

 and take a hold of the soil, and the sand 

 will prevent the wet clogging the soil 

 around the bulbs. 



Many of the most beautiful Lilies 

 flourish in ordinary good garden soil, 

 while others like a stiffish sandy loam 

 enriched with well - rotted manure or 

 leaf soil, and others again prefer a moist 

 sandy peat. But whatever kind of soil 

 they grow in, it should always be well 

 drained, as stagnant moisture round the 

 bulbs causes them to rot. 



Some of the white bell-shaped and 

 trumpet-flowered Lilies, like candidum, 

 long'iflorum, and its varieties, are forced 

 in large quantities every year. If not 

 subjected to too much heat, the bulbs 

 thus treated may be planted out in the 

 flower border and allowed to look after 

 themselves, and in a couple of years wiU 

 begin to flower freely unless, as in the 

 case of L. candidu7n, they succumb to 

 disease. 



Lilies are readily increased by remov- 

 ing the offsets from the full-grovTn bulbs. 

 It is a good plan to have a specially 

 prepared bed for the offsets, in which they 

 should be planted as soon as detached, 

 and allowed to grow on for a couple of 

 years. At the end of this time they will 

 begin to flower freely and may then take 

 their proper place in the flower garden at 

 planting time. Indeed if two beds are 

 kept for this particular ptu^pose of receiving 

 offsets, the latter may be taken every year 

 from kinds requiring it, and the bed 

 formed the preceding year need not be 

 disturbed. 



The fleshy scales (which are really 

 modified leaves) of the bulbs may also be 

 used to produce new plants, inserted end- 

 ways into rich sandy soil and placed in a 

 warm greenhouse. But this is rather a 

 slow method of increase. Seeds may also 

 be used, but unless it is wished to obtain 

 new varieties or hybrids it is scarcely worth 

 the trouble. Some kinds flower in 3-4 

 years from seeds, while others take nearly 

 twice as long. 



Other kinds, like hulhiferum and tigri- 

 nuin for example, have the peculiarity of 

 developing ' bulbils ' or small bulb -like 

 bodies in the axils of the leaves. These 

 may be detached in autumn, and ' sown ' 

 or planted in the same way as the offsets 

 in prepared beds by themselves. They 

 develop into flowering bulbs in 2 or 3 

 years. 



