The Lily of the Valley as a House Plant—By Clarence M. Weed, 
Massa- 
chusetts 
THE QUALITY OF FLOWERS THAT CAN BE GROWN WITHOUT A GREENHOUSE—WHY NOT START NOW 
AND GROW HALF A DOZEN CHRISTMAS PRESENTS LIKE THESE ?—GET THE 
| Brees books on floriculture generally dis- 
courage the amateur who aspires to 
grow the beautiful lily of the valley through 
the winter months at home without a green- 
house; nevertheless, in a house where there 
is a warm corner in which a uniform tem- 
perature of seventy-five to eighty degrees can 
be maintained, the lily of the valley may 
be had in blossom throughout the winter 
with very little trouble. 
The “pips” or rootstocks of the lily of the 
valley are kept in cold storage by the florists’ 
supply houses throughout the year. They 
may be purchased from any bulb dealer for 
about $1.75 per hundred. These are re- 
tarded plants, i. e. plants in which the nor- 
mal period of blooming has long since passed, 
so that it is possible to bring them into blos- 
som in three or four weeks. It is purely a 
forcing process, the plants forming no new 
roots during the development of the leaves, 
and the blossoms depending entirely upon 
the nutriment stored up in the thickened 
crown and root stock. Consequently what 
is needed is an abundance of moisture and 
a high, uniform temperature, preferable ninety 
degrees. 
You can grow lily of the valley near steam 
pipes, a furnace or even the kitchen range. 
We have a hot-water tank in a closet with 
Has 
An acceptable Christ-nas present. Home grown. 
personality in it. Nota store-bought trinket 
‘ing plant. 
a shelf at the top and keep the closet door 
shut. Also we grow them in a cupboard 
over the furnace against the chimney. 
The “pips” generally come from the 
florists’ supply house in bunches of twenty- 
Of course you can't get the leaves to come outina 
low temperature but— 
five each. These should be fresh from the 
cold-storage room and should not be allowed 
to dry out. As soon as they are received 
unpack them and irim off the roots with 
scissors about a third of the way from the 
outer ends in order that the moisture may 
be absorbed readily and sent into the develop- 
Then put the pips in soil or sand 
or sphagnum moss in some receptacle where 
they may be kept thoroughly moist and at a 
uniform temperature. In my experience I 
have found it better to use a fair-sized recep- 
tacle than to attempt to force the plants 
individually in small jars. 
Small portable window boxes of wood, 
zinc, or pottery are especially desirable in 
forcing the lily of the valley. Set the plants 
about one half inch apart and place the re- 
ceptacle in some closet or corner where there 
is a uniform high temperature, and leave 
them for about two weeks or even longer if 
the situation is not too dark. Then bring 
them to the window during the day and at 
night keep them near a radiator or in some 
other warm situation. Under favorable con- 
ditions the first flowers will develop in three 
or four weeks, and others will continue to 
come on for two or three weeks thereafter. 
After the development is well begun keep 
the window box in the window or in a cool 
room. The flowers will then last much longer 
than if kept in too hot a place. 
An excellent way to utilize these beautiful 
blossoms is to transplant them as they come 
into bloom into small attractive flower jars, 
placing several in each jar according to its 
size. ‘They are not in the least injured by 
such transference and will continue to dis- 
192 
“PIPS’? IN NOVEMBER 
play their beauty for two or three weeks, mak- 
ing admirable pieces for adorning the dinner 
table as well as other situations. 
The oblong box shown on this page is 
eleven inches long by four inches wide 
and four inches high. In it one can 
easily place a dozen or more lily of the 
valley pips. In one experience with this 
box I planted the roots December 29, and 
placed it in a corner of the room along which 
a steam pipe ascended, the heat from the 
pipe keeping the temperature of the soil at 
from seventy-five to eighty degrees, as was 
determined by thrusting down a thermometer. 
By the fifteenth of January some of the plants 
had developed beautiful racemes of flowers 
ten inches high and the others were coming 
along nicely. The box was then brought 
away from the warm corner into a lighter 
situation, where the plants continued in 
bloom for several weeks. 
It is evident from this experience that by 
planting the pips early in December one 
could have the flowers just coming on at 
Christmas time. Few things would be 
lovelier or more acceptable as Christmas 
presents than attractive flower jars, such as 
one can get in abundance at the Japanese 
and other shops, with half a dozen of these 
lily of the valley plants just coming into 
blossom; and the fact that the plants had 
been brought into bloom by the giver should 
enhance the value of the gift. 
—you Can transplant the best ones like this. 
will never Know they were moved 
They 
