THE CULTURE OF MARIPOSA LILIES. 



THE CULTURE OF 



Of all the plants that live in the open 

 air of our country there are none 

 more fascinating than these. The cli- 

 mate of Greece or of Southern Italy is 

 scarcely so good as that of the Pacific 

 region in which these flowers grow ; 

 and while to that region belong, per- 

 haps, the most lovely evergreen woods 

 known on the western side of the 

 mountains, much of Arizona and the 

 Rocky Mountains is more arid than 

 any part of Southern Europe. Yet 

 through this mighty region, stretching 

 from British America through the 

 Rocky Mountains down to Mexico, 

 these fragile-looking and beautiful 

 plants abound. I know of no other 

 group of plants that on first acquaint- 

 ance so quickly charm and interest all 

 flower lovers. From my boyhood they 

 have always fascinated me. I well re- 

 member frames full of the beautiful 

 early-introduced kinds growing in my 

 father's garden some twenty years ago. 

 Happily they are hardy, and any pro- 

 tection we give them should be rather 

 to save them from wet than from frost. 

 Many new additions have been made 

 to the family of late years, and the best 

 of all the known forms are now in cul- 

 tivation. 



The Eldorado strain, as it is called, 

 introduced about 1 8 9 5 , is a great gain ; 

 it is supposed to belong to the Venus- 

 tus group, but it seems distinct. It 

 comprises a number of tall, vigorous- 

 growing forms, varying greatly in 

 colour, from white to lilac and deep 

 purple, and from pink to deep red, all 



MARIPOSA LILIES. 



most beautifully blotched and marked, 

 and some with gold blotches or stains 

 on the upper edges of the petals. The 

 introducer of this fine race once wrote 

 me that he had been on the mountain 

 slopes surrounded on all sides by masses 

 of them in flower, the stems being fully 

 3 feet high. What a sight it must have 

 been ! Whenever I look at my own beds 

 in full flower in the summer I long to 

 be transported to their native land, 

 where one may see them in myriads in 

 their full beauty. I have often listened 

 with envy to the description given by 

 an enthusiastic amateur gardener, of 

 how he drove (when in California) for 

 a whole day over a district which was 

 full of Calochorti in flower. 



Culture. — The conditions under 

 which these lovely bulbs may be suc- 

 cessfully grown are what we are all 

 anxious to learn. First, we must bear 

 in mind that, in their own home, soon 

 after the flowering season they go to 

 rest, and are completely dried up ow- 

 ing to great heat and drought ; then 

 comes the winter with snow and frost, 

 keeping them still imprisoned, and then 

 the spring — the lovely and genial Paci- 

 fic Coast spring. And here it may be 

 1 noted that if the growing season be wet 

 I the plants will be more vigorous and 

 the flowers more abundant. The prin- 

 cipal difficulty that we have to con- 

 tend with is the large amount of rain 

 that falls in the winter months. Past 

 I experience has shown that Calochorti 

 I are not plants for the ordinary mixed 

 I border. They require a small spot to 



