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PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GARDEN PLANTS 



LILIUM 



them. A form of Tahesvma called 

 grandiflorum is a, vigorous grower, with 

 stiff foliage and dark brown stems bearing 

 from 6 to 10 white tubular flowers tinged 

 with brown outside. The variety called 

 prcecox is dwarf in habit and produces 

 its flowers earlier than the other forms, 

 under the same treatment. Besides the 

 above forms, there is a distinct one, albo- 

 inarginatum, the leaves of which are 

 attractively edged with ivory-white. 



Many thousands of L. longiflorum and 

 its varieties are forced in heat during the 

 winter and spring months, and an immense 

 trade is carried on in the cut flowers 

 for decorative purposes. They last a 

 very long time in a cut state, and their 

 purity, grace, and substance attract 

 universal admiration. 



Culture and Propagation. — For out- 

 door cultivation nearly all the longiflorum 

 Lnies may be used for the embellishment 

 of flower beds and borders, or may be 

 mixed with other plants in groups on the 

 grass. They like a light rich soil com- 

 posed of sandy loam and leaf mould, and 

 even a little well-rotted manure, and 

 perfect drainage is essential. Frost should 

 be guarded against by a protection of dry 

 leaves, bracken, straw &c., as the young 

 shoots are apt to get injured. Warm 

 sheltered and sunny situations should be 

 chosen when the bulbs are planted in 

 autumn. Increase is effected by means 

 of offsets, but cultivated bulbs have a 

 tendency to become smaller and smaller, 

 and do not produce such fine flowers as 

 healthy imported ones. 



L. Lowi. — A beautiful Burmese Lily 

 2-3 ft. high, bearing in July at the top of 

 the stems 3-5 white bell-shaped drooping 

 or nodding flowers more or less heavily 

 spotted with violet or crimson-purple. 



Culture dc. as above, p. 843. Very 

 little can be said yet as to the hardiness 

 of this Lily. It is believed to be hardy, 

 but all the plants I have seen have 

 been grown in pots under glass. In the 

 mild parts of S.W. England and Ireland 

 it would probably grow well out of doors. 



L. maritimum. — A pretty little 

 Californian Lily 3-5 ft. high, with alter- 

 nate or whorled narrow oblong lance- 

 shaped leaves chiefly clustered near the 

 base of the stem, and bearing 15-20 deep 

 rod bell-shaped flowers spotted with dark 

 purple. 



CxMure dc. as above, p. 848. This 



may be grown in sandy peat with a 

 little loam, and may be treated like L. 

 canadense. 



L. Martagon {Turk's Cap Lily). — 

 A well-known and much cultivated Lily 

 from Central and S. Eiurope and Asia. 

 It has small ovoid bright yellow bulbs 

 1-lJ in. in diameter, producing stems 

 2-3 ft. high, clothed with whorls of 

 oblanceolate spoon-shaped leaves, 6-9 in 

 each whorl. The drooping flowers with 

 gracefully recurved^ segments appear dur- 

 ing the early summer months 20-30 in 

 erect chandelier-like racemes. In the 

 typical plant they are of a dull purplish-red 

 or violet-rose heavily spotted with carmine 

 on the lower half of the segments. There 

 are several forms of the Martagon Lily, 

 the finest being album with stems 4^5 ft. 

 high, carrying 20-30 pure waxy whit© 

 flowers of great beauty ; dalmaticum 

 grows 5-6 ft. high, each stem bearing 

 12-25 flowers varying in colour from pale 

 to deep purple. A form of dalmaticum 

 called Catani has rich deep almost 

 blackish velvety crimson flowers. There 

 is also a double-flowered form of the 

 common Martagon Lilj'. 



Culture and Propagation. — This 

 species and its varieties are easily grown 

 in light rich loam and leaf soU in partially 

 shaded situations. For flower beds, thin 

 shrubberies, grassy banks, or among 

 Azaleas and Ehododendrons, Martagon 

 Lilies flourish, and if left undisturbed for 

 a few years produce masses of blossom. 

 The white Martagon is particularly hand- 

 some in situations where it grows freely, 

 and will produce from 40 to 50 flowers on 

 a stem. 



The plants may be increased by off- 

 sets from the old bulbs taken about 

 August. The old bulbs should be 

 replanted immediately about 6 in. deep, 

 or not later than September, as later 

 planting often interferes with the produc- 

 tion of flowers the following year. Seeds 

 may also be sown as soon as ripe, about 

 July and August, in a well-drained 

 compost of sandy loam and leaf soil, and 

 allowed to grow for a year before disturb- 

 ing the seedlings. In four or five years 

 the first flowers will appear, but those 

 following ■wiU be of greater size, substance, 

 and colour. The variety dalmaticum 

 has already been used with L. Hansoni 

 to produce the hybrid L. Dalhansoni, 

 and doubtless a good deal of work among 



