48 



Arthur T. Sodding ton, 34^2 West 14 th St., New York City 



LILIES 



By ARTHUR HERRINGTON, author of "The Chrysanthemum." and 

 a practical writer on Horticultural Subjects 



The white Lily has ever been esteemed as " Flora's " emblem of purity, 

 but the Lily family as a whole has not been accorded that popularity and 

 prominent representation in gardens it rightly deserves. 



Consider the Lilies of the fields, how they grow — American, European 

 and Asiatic. A chain of Lilies encircles the Northern Hemisphere from ihe 

 Pacific coast eastward, across this vast continent, thence through Europe 

 and Asia, and ending only in Japan and the Philippmes. Their geographical 

 distribution is peculiar in that they are found only in northern countries, but 

 of more importance still is the fact that they are not all hothouse plants. It 

 may be because certain Lilies are largely grown in pots in greenhouses in 

 great quantities every year, that our thoughts have been diverted from the 

 true possibilities of the family as a whole as garden flowers. 



A Lily garden is a glorious possibility of easy attainment, with one-half 

 of the world paying tribute of beauty thereto. Out of the abundance of the 

 Lily family we may make selections and suitable plantings that will ensure a 

 complete succession of Lilies blooming from June until November, — a chang- 

 ing garden picture unequaled in gorgeous beauty, with the added feature 

 of permanency in succeeding years. The cost is not prohibitive, because the 

 majority of the best garden Lilies are plentiful and cheap, when we consider 

 their permanent character and their subsequent increase in numbers. With 

 a few exceptions, Lilies are grown in ordinary garden soil of average depth 

 and fertility ; in fact, many of them need no culture at all, only to be once 

 planted and left alone for a number of years, when they may have increased 

 to such an extent as to need lifting and replanting in reduced quantity. 

 Look at our native Lilies — Superbum of the swamps, and Canadense of the 



fertile meadows; "they 



Lilium candidum 



(Annunciation, or Madonna Lily) 



The g^orKeous Lilium auratum, or Ooldea-banded 

 Lily of Japan 



toil not, neither do they spin," but in their season they are pictures of great 

 beauty. These, although natives, are worthy of garden cultivation, and the 

 response to garden culture is seen in greater stature and more abundant 

 blooming. 



The Lily season in the garden opens in June, when the dwarf forms of 

 Lilium elegans and L. Thunbergianuin, numbering at least a score of distinct 

 varieties, open their rich orange or crimson =icups to the early summer's sun. 

 Next in season comes L. bulbiferum, Z» croceum, L. umbellatum, and their 

 allies, in many shades from yellow to dark crimson. As summer advances, 

 new kinds vary the garden scene ; of special prominence being the old white 

 L. candidum, L. longiflorum, L. Japonicum Brownii (in its several varieties), 

 L. Chalcedonicum, L. tenuifolium and L. superbum excelsum {testaceum) . In 

 August, we have L. Henryi, with its great-branched beds of orange-yellow 

 flowers, borne aloft from 5 to lo feet high, a noble Lily, that will grow anywhere 

 and increase fast. With the Tiger Lilies, and varied forms of L. speciosuin to 

 carry on the flowering till chill autumn days, it is apparent that we may have 

 five months of Lily bloom in changing loveliness, and all easily grown kinds. 

 These, too, will awaken a desire to attempt the culture of some that demand 

 extra care or special treatment, like the pretty pink Krameri, the golden Aura- 

 tum, or the giant L. giganteum. 



Whilst Lilies are beautiful anywhere, they may be doubly so by planting 

 in special associations ; for example, among rhododendrons or other shrubs, not 

 too thickly planted, they are actually improved, enjoying a partial shade to 

 their roots. Lilies, and paeonies too, make an admirable combination, the one 

 succeeding the other in blooming, and both mutually helpful to each other. 

 Make a great bed or border by deeply digging and manuring the soil ; then 

 plant it with Lilies and paeonies, and you have made a planting that will grow 

 into a floral feature that need not be changed or disturbed for ten years. 



