LILIES AT YALDING, IN KENT. 



405 



a clump of Berhcris aquifolia, have been a grand sight this year — their 

 third appearance. All six have flowered, and I have brought the last 

 spike, a small one, to this Conference, as the blooms are very fine. The 

 average height of the stems was 5 feet. There were fifteen flowers on 

 one, the others having four to eight each. Mr. Wallace saw the group 

 about a fortnight ago and much admired it. The soil is a mixture of 

 loam, peat, and sand ; the site is exposed to every possible ray of sunshine 

 up to 3 P.M. The spikes push their way up through the outer branches 

 of the Berberis at first, but when the flowers appear I cut back the Berberis 

 and expose the clump to the full glare of the sun. I do not know if this 

 is a good thing or not. 



Szovitsianum is a beautiful and desirable Lily, worth any amount of 

 trouble, though the scent is a little too powerful and peculiar for some 

 people. I am trying some bulbs in another spot, where they get only 

 the afternoon sun, but they are too recently planted to warrant any 

 remarks on their behaviour. 



The dwarf and exquisite rubellum is another favourite of mine. I 

 have but three bulbs and cannot say I have done much with them so far, 

 but I hope I have at last got the right situation for them, thanks to a 

 letter in The Garden, from Mr. Barr, some time since, describing their 

 natural growth in their native country, Japan. In consequence of this 

 letter I moved mine from the Ehododendron bed, where they were doing 

 but poorly, to a dry bank under a greedy and aggressive Lilac-bush, where 

 they get morning sun only. Here, planted last year in light soil, with 

 plenty of stones and broken bricks," they so far recovered from their move 

 as to send up their delicate spikes, one of which produced two flowers 

 and another one flower only, the third being a blank. (Fig. 192.) 



This was not much to boast of, certainly, but the flowers were of the 

 most intensely beautiful pink, and now, long after they are over, the 

 foliage is as fresh and gresn as ever. I shall anxiously await next year's 

 developments, for we have no Lily like this, so dwarf and so delicate in 

 tint. 



Burbanki I have mentioned on one or tw^o occasions in The Garden 

 as being a highly promising Lily. 



Two bulbs from Mr. Wallace gave me a few good flowers last summer, 

 but now they have sent up no fewer than six spikes between them, with 

 an average of six flowers each — altogether a very creditable performance. 

 They are in a Rhododendron bed in peaty soil, where they are rather dry 

 and dependent on artificial watering, though they do not seem to require 

 much. 



This is a very satisfactory Lily, apparently, though I have not yet 

 heard of anything in the way of bloom in this country to equal the 

 marvellous show it seems to afford in America. I have brought a spike 

 to this Conference which will give a good idea of its foliage and flower. 



With several other Lilies I have done fairly well, and with some 

 others have utterly failed, so far. Concerning these I have no remarks to 

 make of any value, I fear. 



The only one I would mention is L. Brownii, a very handsome Lily 

 indeed, which flourishes here on the dry slope of a Rhododendron bed, 

 where it gets hardly any sun till 2 p.m. It has been most satisfactory 



