NOTES OF MY EXPEEIENCE WITH LILIES. 



377 



NOTES OF MY EXPERIENCE WITH LILIES. 



By Geokge F. Wilson, F.R.S., V.M.H., &c. 



LiLiUM EUBELLUM.— Being a great admirer of this recently intro- 

 duced Lily, and believing that it will become a garden favourite soon, I 

 begin with a short note upon it. 



• As we were desirous to ascertain the best way to grow Lilium 

 ruhellum, I got a number of imported bulbs and planted them in lots of 

 ten or more, in very many situations and under very different conditions, 

 in October 1899. The result is that we found a mixture of vegetable soil 

 and loam, and a partially shaded situation, were what suited them best. I 

 send you a photograph (fig. 192) of a clump in flower in partial shade at 

 the side of a bed of hybrid Azaleas, one of the Lily stems carrying three 

 flowers. 



Both this clump and another planted in the deep shade of a wood 

 bloomed thoroughly well, but the one with more light had the higher 

 colour. 



General Culture. — Though my experience in Lily-growing dates 

 back to a time when cultivators in general had not been awakened to the 

 charms of this most beautiful family, I must still confess that we have 

 many things yet left to learn, and perhaps some to unlearn. In some 

 seasons, notably when cold and wet follow after drought, even practised 

 cultivators, except in most favoured situations, find that " blight and 

 spot " greatly injure the growth and flowering of some species, even 

 though the bulbs may be unhurt. 



The best situation for planting Lilies — at least in the southern 

 counties — is a cool sheltered one ; a very safe place is near the edge of a 

 Rhododendron bed ; soil that will grow Rhododendrons will also answer 

 for most kinds of Lilies. I can give two examples where Lilies succeeded 

 when left almost to themselves : one was in an old-fashioned garden with 

 a small lawn inside the main lawn, and sheltered and partly shaded by 

 shrubs and trees. In the centre bed, among some dwarf Rhododendrons, 

 I planted many kinds of Lilies, all of which succeeded perfectly. Blooms 

 of Lilium aura turn, gathered after a week of unusually stormy weather, 

 were taken up to the Royal Horticultural Society to show how little they 

 had suffered. In the same garden L. auratum and L. longiflorum 

 bloomed well in a peat Rhododendron bed, sheltered by the house, in a 

 full southern exposure ; but in this case watering was almost essential. 

 The other situation is in the garden of a friend ; his L. aiiratiim are 

 planted near the edges of large Rhododendron beds, and are partially 

 sheltered by a high bank, and by belts of trees at some little distance ; 

 his Rhododendron soil suits the Lilies admirably, and there appears to be 

 moisture in the soil some little way down which the roots can reach. 

 The result is that season after season, even in the most unfavourable ones, 

 hardly a Lily is injured, and their flowers, on stems from 6 to 11 feet in 

 height, surpass any I have seen elsewhere. 



H 



