THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
289 
THE CULTIVATION OP LILIES. 
(With Coloured Plate of Lilium concolor.) 
are not altogether so desirable in the garden of 
amateur as they have been described by writers 
never had the pleasure of purchasing bulbs, or 
tig for their management or mismanagement, as the 
might be. When men who have done a little 
gardening at other people’s expense write about lilies, they are sure 
to recommend their readers to invest widely and wildly, and the 
result is that those who take their advice get bitten, and it may be 
that a few of them turn from floriculture with some degree of 
disgust ; whereas, had they been wisely instead of wildly advised, 
they might have persevered in a path which certainly should be and 
really might be strewed with flowers. It has been my good or bad 
hap to labour long with the lilies, and pay for all my experiences. 
I don’t know where to find one whose business it is to write who 
has done the same. You are not to suppose that I set myself up as 
the only amateur of lilies, for there are hundreds to be met with, 
and the few suggestions and reports we obtain from such are of 
inestimable value. But our writers trust to other people’s observa- 
tions and experiences, having had no opportunities of acquiring 
experiences of their own, and as lilies are curious plants, the books 
record successes only, and amateurs who value time and patience, 
and have to pay for their floral amusements, are too often deluded 
with notices of lilies that are said to be easy of management, when, 
in fact, they are extremely difficult. I must confess I should like 
to have in my pocket now all the money I have wasted on lilies; but 
I have instead a little knowledge of their waywardness, and I pur- 
pose to turn this to account, to the best of my ability, for the service 
of readers of the Eloeal Woeld. 
All the lilies agree in certain characteristics and requirements, 
which is a great comfort, for it lessens the brain-work of managing 
them. They are all hardy in the British islands, but only a small 
proportion of the one hundred and fifty varieties now in cultivation 
are adapted for permanent occupation of the open border : and it 
therefore follows that those who would succeed in the cultivation 
of a collection must keep many sorts in pots, although these same 
sorts are really hardy enough to endure an ordinary winter in the 
open ground. All lilies love sunshine, and therefore none of them 
should be planted in deep shade, although partial shade rarely inter- 
feres with their well-doing. They agree, also, in requiring a deep, 
rich, moist soil when growing, and to be moist, but not wet, throughout 
the whole of the winter. Stagnant wet in the dark days will kill them 
more surely than frost, and hence, when wintered in pots, they should 
have a little water occasionally, even although they appear to be 
quite at rest. The last remark reminds me of another point of 
agreement ; it is, that lilies never rest. They appear to be dormant 
certainly for months together, but, if the conditions are favourable, 
October. 19 
