November, 1905 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



177 



declares, it even surpasses L. speciosum. Mr. 

 Horsford says that it is the most vigorous lily 

 he has ever seen, growing six feet high and 

 sometimes bearing twenty flowers from a 

 bulb. Cost, about seventy-five cents. 



The formal counterpart to Henry's lily is 

 Hanson's lily {Lilium maculatum), but known 

 to the trade as L. Hansoni). It has orange 

 flowers and leaves in whorls. The idea of 

 eighty cents a bulb staggers my pocketbook, 

 but this lily is said to be one of the hardiest 

 and thriftiest. It has six to ten flowers in a 

 cluster; the petals are thick and durable. A 

 lily specialist tells me that he has never lost a 

 bulb, and that it has never failed to bloom 

 every year for six years so far. 



The best early scarlet lily is the Siberian 

 coral lily (L. tenuifolium), which is also dis- 

 tinguished by its linear, scattered leaves, 

 dwarf growth and unspotted flowers. Its 

 only rival is the Grecian red lily (L. Chal- 

 cedonicum), a much taller plant. 'Which is 

 easier to grow time must tell. The Siberian 

 is about the only lily that can be quickly and 

 easily raised from seed. This probably 

 means that a colony will run out every five or 

 six years unless you raise a fresh lot from 

 seeds or bulb scales. The bulbs cost about 

 fifteen cents. I should like to see it natural- 

 ized on a larger scale among rocks in such a 

 splendid wild garden as that of Mr. Griscom 

 at Haverford, Pa. This species is pictured 

 in the November number of Country Life in 

 America. It blooms the first half of June 

 near New York; a fortnight later at Ottawa. 



III. The Erect Lilies 



If the delicate-colored, nodding lilies are the 

 queenly ones, then the kingly lilies are the 

 erect flowers with the strong colors. I have 

 never heard of any good erect lilies in white 

 or pink (such lilies would be desirable), but 

 in red, yellow and orange the best species is 

 clearly Lilium elegans, which might be called 

 the "Japanese erect lily." This doubtless 

 furnishes the easiest way to get a big dense 

 mass of strong-colored lilies, and the vividest 

 form of all is probably the variety fulgens, 

 known to the trade as L. Batemannice — an 

 orange or salmon-red flower. This species 

 has more varieties than any other lily. Cloth 

 of Gold and Best Red are said to be the best 

 in their respective colors. The bulbs cost 

 ten to fifty cents, depending on the variety. 

 A good variety, well grown, should have four 

 or five flowers in a cluster and many stems to 

 a bulb. 



I see no inducement to grow the Chinese 

 erect lily (L. concolor) except as its varieties 

 may bloom at a different season from the 

 Japanese. It has the same color range. 

 They have smaller flowers and make a deli- 

 cate rather than a strong effect. 



WE NEED A GOOD WHITE LILY 



Meanwhile, the world waits for a white 

 lily that everyone can grow, for the Easter 

 lily is not reliable when put in the garden 

 after forcing. Let us hope that a strain of 

 the long-flowered lily may be developed that 

 will be reliable in Northern gardens. 



The nearest approach to a white lily for 



everybody is the Madonna, or Annunciation 

 lily (Lilium candidum), which used to be the 

 Easter lily before it was found that the long- 

 flowered lily could be forced more easily. It 

 has a bell -shaped flower, six to twenty-five 

 of them on a stalk, but as it is a European 

 species, and therefore does not belong in this 

 article, I shall only say that it succeeds won- 

 derfully for some and not at all for others, 

 that it is more susceptible to disease than 

 any other lily, and that we do not know 

 whether to plant it deep or shallow, give 

 manure or not, divide frequently or leave 

 alone. 



A rival of Kramer's lily is Lilium rubellum. 

 This is also a pink, and perhaps it is smaller, 

 but the only safe distinction is in the leaves — 

 those of Kramer's having one nerve, rubellum 

 three. I see no reason for cultivating both 

 unless the season of bloom is different. Peter 

 Barr suggests that this lily be grown in poor, 

 dry soil, under the protecting branches of a 

 deciduous shrub. 



THE BEST SPECIES OF OTHER COUNTRIES 



So far as I know, the Far-Eastern species 

 named above are the best of their several 

 types that the world affords. California 

 ranks next to Japan; it has produced the best 

 yellow funnel-shaped lily (L. Parryi) ; and 

 its glorious L. W ashingtonianum is the 

 Pacific coast equivalent of L. speciosum. 

 Burbank is said to have hybrids of these that 

 will dazzle the world. They may stun 

 Europe, but no Californian species has ever 

 done well east of the Rockies. The only 

 indispensable lilies that Europe has ever 

 produced are the Madonna lily (the best white 

 garden lily) and the Nankeen lily (L. tes- 

 taceum), w r hich is possibly a hybrid, and cer- 

 tainly the best pale yellow flower of the 

 Turk's-cap type. The best bell-shaped lily 

 in red, orange and yellow is the Canadian 

 lily (L. Canadense). 



THE ESSENTIALS OF LILY CULTURE 



The key to lily culture is the fact that all 

 the Japanese species and many others form 

 roots above the bulbs as well as below. 

 Above the bulb these roots are sent out later- 

 ally from the stem; this explains why lilies 

 suffer so much in summer from drought, 

 because these roots are so near the surface 

 that they are constantly affected by the 

 drying of the soil. 



The ideal thing would be to plant lilies four 

 inches deep at first, and after the stems are six 

 inches above ground put on a two-inch mulch 

 of fine leaf mould. If you cannot provide 

 such a mulch, set the lilies six inches deep, 

 but be sure the soil is very fine and mellow. 

 These bulbs demand plentiful water and per- 

 fect drainage. If you are not sure the water 

 will drain away rapidly, dig the hole eight 

 inches deep and put in a three-inch layer of 

 sand and broken bricks at the bottom for 

 drainage. 



Always put a half-inch layer of sand both 

 above and below the lily bulbs. This will 

 prevent stagnant w T ater at the base of the 

 bulb, which is always a sensitive point, since 

 the roots are emitted therefrom, and it will 



also protect the bulbs from the rich soil which 

 should be placed above the bulbs. 



Be very careful that no manure ever touches 

 lily bulbs or any other bulbs, as it will make 

 the roots decay. It is very important that 

 the soil above the lily bulbs should be rich, 

 since roots are emitted above the bulb, but 

 be sure that the bulb is separated from this 

 rich soil by a layer of sand. 



A three-inch layer of strawy manure makes 

 an excellent winter mulch. For tender kinds 

 use three inches of forest leaves and then two 

 inches of strawy manure, w T hich will keep the 

 leaves from being blown away. 



Miss Jekyll recommends that the following 

 should be planted deeply: 

 L. auratum, including all varieties and the 

 fine Japanese hybrid, 



L. a. Alexandres 

 L. Brownii L. Japonicum, var. 



roseum (L. Krameri) 

 L. elegans L. speciosum 



L. Henryi L. tigrinum 



These are all Japanese lilies. She recom- 

 mends shallow planting for the following: 

 L. Canadense L. Hiimboldtii 



L. candidum L. Martagon 



L. Chalcedonicum L. pardalinum 

 L. excelsum L. pomponicum 



L. Grayi L. superbum 



L. W ashingtonianum 

 These species are native to eastern Europe 

 and America. None of them are Japanese. 



A KEY TO JAPAN LILIES 



This key shows in the briefest space what 

 no amount of description can ever do, viz., 

 how each species differs from any and all 

 others. The key may be used in two ways: 

 to find out the name of a flower, and to get 

 a grasp of the whole group in the shortest 

 possible time. 



A. Shape of flowers like a cup; As. 

 erect (Fig. 259). 



B. Style longer than ovary elegans 



BB. Style shorter than ovary concolor 



AA. Shape of flowers like a bell; fls. 



nodding or horizontal (Fig. 263).rubellum 

 AAA. Shape of flowers like a funnel; fls. 

 not erect, unspotted (Fig. 261). 

 B. Leaves broad, heart-shaped. . . . COrdif Olium 

 BB. Leaves narrow, linear or lanceo- 

 late. 

 C. Tube not much widened from 



base to neck longiflorum 



CC. Tube considerably widened 

 from base to neck. 

 D. Blossoms pink or white out- 

 side Japonicum 



DD. Blossoms purplish brown 



outside Brownii 



AAAA. Shape of fls. more or less like a 

 Turk's-cap, i. e., the petals roll- 

 ing far back; fls. nodding 

 (Fig. 260). 

 B. Dominant colors white or pink. 



C. Petals banded yellow auratum 



CC. Petals not banded yellow speciOBUin 



BB. Dominant colors red, orange or 

 yellow. 



C. Flowers not spotted tenuifolium 



CC. Flowers spotted. 



D. Foliage in whorls; fls. orange .maculatum 

 DD. Foliage scattered, not in 

 whorls. 



E. Lvs. lanceolate. 

 F. Color red tigrinum 



FF. Color orange Henryi 



EE. Lvs. linear Maximowiczii 



