844 



PRACTICAL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS 



LILIUM 



As the flower stems in Lilies are also 

 the leaf bearers, it may be as well to men- 

 tion that they should not be cut down 

 (with the idea of not exhausting the bulb) 

 imtU the leaves have vsdthered. In the 

 case of other bulbous plants where the 

 flower stem is quite independent of the 

 leaves, its removal after flowering 

 strengthens the bulbs. In Lilies, however, 

 the flowers themselves may be removed 

 when faded, except when seeds are 

 required. 



Imported bulbs from Japan and 

 California are often packed in sawdust or 

 other fine material, and sometimes arrive 

 in a more or less injured condition. Such 

 bulbs should be overhauled immediately 

 they come to hand, and all diseased 

 portions removed. The bulbs may then 

 be potted up or planted in their flowering 

 position in the garden, as the case may be, 

 or if they are to be kept over for a time 

 on account of their shrivelled condition, 

 should be stored in dry airy places packed 

 in coco-nut fibre which is just sufficiently 

 moist to restore the shrivelled scales to 

 plumpness. 



The follovring is a good list of the 

 Lilies which may be grown and flowered 

 out of doors in most parts of the British 

 Islands. 



L. Alexandrae (L. Uke-uri). — A mag- 

 nificent Japanese Lily, supposed to be a 

 natural hybrid between L. longiflorum 

 or japonicum and L. auratum. It is a 

 dwarf free grower, and when in fine con- 

 dition produces in July and August as 

 many as 4-6 flowers, 6-8 in. across when 

 folly expanded, and of a pure white. It 

 was described by Mr. Baker as a variety 

 of L. japonicum, and a drawing of one of 

 the first flowers to open in this country 

 will be found in the ' Gardeners Chronicle ' 

 for August 26, 1893, p. 243. It flourishes 

 in a deep sandy and stifiish loam and leaf 

 soil, well tilled and drained. 



Culture dc. as above. 



L. auratum (Golden Lily of Japan). — 

 This Japanese Lily is a great favourite in 

 all parts of the kingdom. It has large 

 hulbs and sends up leafy stems 2-6 ft. 

 high bearing trusses of ivory-white broadly 

 bell-shaped flowers often 9-12 in. across, 

 each segment having a broad conspicuous 

 band of bright yellow down the centre, 

 and numerous deep purple blotches all 

 over the inner surface, while the basal 

 portion is studded with purplish stiff hairs 



or papillae. The conspicuous anthers, 

 which change from orange to purple and 

 deep red brown, add to the contrast of 

 colours. The flowers, which are sweetly 

 scented, usually appear from June to 

 August, and where the plants are thriving 

 in particularly favourable spots it is not an 

 uncommon sight to see from 70 to 100 

 large and perfect blooms borne on a single 

 stem. The latter, however, loses its 

 rounded shape, and becomes very much 

 flattened or ' fasoiated,' the better to bear 

 its beautiful burden. 



There are several forms of L. auratu/m, 

 some rather poor and starry, but others 

 magnificent. Among the most elegant 

 may be uneniionedi platyphyllum, a grand 

 sturdy -growing variety, with richly spotted 

 flowers often exceeding a foot across. The 

 white form of this called vi/rginale is 

 similar to platypTiyllvmi in habit and size 

 of flower, but the latter has only a deep 

 golden band down the centre of the seg- 

 ments, which are faintly spotted with 

 yellow, and throw into relief the deep ruby- 

 red anthers ; ruhro-vittatum is a hardier 

 plant than the type, with deeper green 

 foliage, and white flowers banded vsdth red 

 down the centre of each petal ; Wittei is 

 a very scarce and fine variety with pure 

 white unspotted flowers, striped with 

 yellow down the centre, and occasionally 

 having a tinge or streak of reddish-brown 

 at the tips of the segments; Parkmanni 

 is said to be a hybrid between auratum 

 and speciosum. Its flowers resemble 

 those of ruhro-vittatum, having a, red 

 stripe down the centre, and being more or 

 less spotted with crimson. Tricolor is 

 a vigorous-growing variety with broad 

 more or less erect leaves, and very large 

 flowers without any purple - brown 

 blotches or dots. 



Culture and Propagation. — L. aura- 

 tum and its varieties flourish in a com- 

 post of rich stif&sh sandy loam and peat, 

 in warm and sheltered situations. Some 

 of the finest flowers I have ever seen 

 produced were at Kew, among the Rhodo- 

 dendrons, in beds of moist peaty soU, 

 where they were allowed to remain for 

 two or three years without distm-bance. 

 In spring after the shoots appear above 

 the ground a mulching of well-rotted 

 manure may be given. The nourishment 

 fi:om this will be washed down to the 

 roots by the rain and give the plants and 

 flowers a wonderful vigour and substance. 

 In many cottage gardens L. auratum, 



