846 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS 



LILIUM 



shaped leaves, slightly downy beneath. 

 The scentless drooping funnel-shaped 

 flowers with slightly reflexed segments 

 appear in June and July. They are 

 2-3 in. deep, and vary in colour from 

 bright orange-yellow to pale bright red, 

 copiously spotted with purple-brown on 

 the upper half of the segments. The 

 variety with red flowers is known as 

 riobrum, and that with yellow flowers 

 as fla/Bum. The variety pa/rvum from 

 Cahfornia has shorter and more slender 

 stems than the type, and leaves scattered 

 or in whorls, while the flowers are about 

 1^ in. deep, and of a bright orange-red 

 tinged with green outside, and heavily 

 spotted with reddish-purple within. 



L. hicidum, a native of Oregon and 

 Washington, is closely related to L. coma- 

 dense and is probably a variety of it. It 

 has similar foUage, and bears 1-6 light 

 translucent orange-yeUow flowers spotted 

 with dark purple, the perianth segments 

 being lance-shaped and rolled back. 



Culture and Propagation. — The 

 Canadian LUy, which is often confused 

 with L. superbv/m, flourishes in moist 

 peaty and sandy loam, and may be grown 

 among sheltering clumps of Azaleas, 

 Rhododendrons, Kalmias, and other 

 Ericaoeous plants, in bold masses for 

 effect. The bulbs may be planted 6-9 

 inches deep and the same distance apart 

 according to size, and should not be 

 disturbed for several years. An annual 

 top-dressing of well-rotted manure, how- 

 ever, should be given by way of replenish- 

 ing the soU, and inducing the plants to 

 produce vigorous flower spikes. 



This species may be increased by care- 

 fully separating and replanting the creep- 

 ing rhizomes with bulbs attached. Offsets 

 from the old bulbs may also be used, as 

 well as single scales, but the plants should 

 not be touched for purposes of increase 

 until the stems and leaves have withered. 

 The bulb scales should be allowed to 

 shrivel a little and heal over the wound 

 before planting in the soil in cold frames 

 or in greenhouses. They soon emit roots 

 but do not reach the flowering stage for 

 four or five years. 



L. candidum {Madonna Lily). — This 

 is one of the finest and handsomest of 

 Lilies. It is a native of S. Europe, Asia 

 Mmor &c.| and produces stiff erect stems 

 3-5 ft. high, clothed with lance-shaped 

 leaves, the first ones developed in late 



autumn being large and oblong and in 

 rosettes on the ground, thus serving to 

 drain off the cold winter raius from the 

 bulbs beneath. The beautiful broadly 

 funnel-shaped flowers 3-4 in. across 

 appear in June 10-80 at the ends of the 

 stems. They have a strong penetrating 

 perfume and are of a pure shiiing white, 

 with gracefully recurved segments and 

 bright yellow anthers on the end of white 

 filaments. By removing the anthers the 

 purity of the petals is not tarnished by the 

 falling poUen, and the flowers last for a 

 longer time in a fresh condition. In a cut 

 state they are used in vast numbers for 

 decorations. 



There are a few varieties of the 

 Madonna LUy, but they cannot compare 

 in beauty with the typical plant. The 

 variety monstrosum has spikes of double 

 flowers of a greenish- white ; peregrinum 

 is a smaller plant altogether, with smaller 

 leaves and flowers ; spicatum has white 

 petal-like bracts ; striatum has the out- 

 side of the segments striped with purple. 

 There is also a form having the leaves 

 striped with silver, and another in which 

 they are striped with golden-yellow. 



Culture and Propagation. — The finest 

 plants I have seen have been grown in 

 rather poor dry soil, and have not been 

 disturbed for years. Every season they 

 throw up stems quite 5 ft. high, each 

 having from 20 to 30 beautiful flowers. 

 They are planted outside a cottage door 

 facing west, and do not obtain all the rain 

 that falls, as they are protected by the 

 overhanging eaves of the house. I have 

 also seen plants doing well in ordinary 

 garden soil in raised beds from which the 

 rain readily passes away, and I think one 

 of the chief causes of disease in the 

 Madonna Lily is planting it in low badly 

 drained soil containing too much mois- 

 tm-e. Increased by offsets. 



Wherever space can be fomid for it, a 

 tuft of the Madonna Lily is well worth 

 growing in any garden however small. 

 It is easily cultivated, but flourishes best 

 if not interfered with too often. Some of 

 the finest flower spikes in the country are 

 those produced in cottage gardens, often 

 springing up from the edge of a dry 

 gravelly pathway. When a great deal of 

 trouble is taken with this Lily in regard 

 to giving it rich soil and good situations 

 it often proves a rank failure and suc- 

 cumbs to a disease which for some years 

 past has now devastated plants m all 



