The Carden Magazine 
“CONSIDER THE LILIES”* 
By Ernest H. Wilson, Arboretum 
[Editors’ Note. — This is the second article in the series that Mr. Wilson, the world-famed plant collector, is writing for The 
Garden Magazine. Each article deals with one special subject, and is complete in itself. Mr. Wilson is both a practical plant 
grower and a botanist, and is eminently qualified to speak authoritatively. In this article he explains some of the mysteries that have 
hitherto surrounded our efforts at Lily culture and clearly outlines the road to success .] 
I N A recipe for jugged Hare some one 
once made the sage remark “ first catch 
your Hare! ” This aphorism is sound, 
and apropos of growing Lilies it may be 
altered to “first secure healthy bulbs.” In 
the matter of the hare every epicure cannot 
go forth with dog and gun and hunt his 
game; neither can every lover of the Lily 
journey forth to distant regions and dig 
a stock of bulbs. Both, perforce, must 
resort to the dealer and depend upon his 
knowledge and honesty, or on their own 
judgment. 
As one who has hunted the Lily on cliff and 
dale, on mountain-slope and alpine 
moorland, and through woodland 
and swamp in many remote parts 
of China and the Thibetan border- 
land, and from the extreme south 
of Japan northward through that 
pretty country to Saghalien and the 
lonely shores of the Okhotsk Sea, I 
propose here to consider, cursorily, 
how Lilies grow. No class of herbs 
is more widely known nor more 
highly appreciated, on no class of 
plants is more money annually spent 
(I had almost written wasted), and 
with no class of flowers do amateurs 
succeed less. The Lily growers who 
have achieved outstanding success 
can be counted on one’s fingers, and 
nurserymen have failed as com- 
pletely as have amateurs. 
Some species, like the Tiger Lily 
( L . tigrinum ), succeed almost every- 
where and often under the most un- 
favorable conditions. Others, like 
the Madonna Lily ( L . candidum), 
thrive amazingly in unexpected 
places where they receive no 
thought nor attention. The Ma- 
donna Lily is the glory and pride of 
many a cottager’s garden in the 
south of England yet often on the 
“squire’s estate” nearby neither skill 
nor care can induce it to happily make 
itself at home. David Harum opined that 
“a reasonable amount of fleas is good for a 
dog — they keep him from brooding on being 
a dog.” How far the Lily enthusiast can 
apply this philosophy to his own particular 
troubles depends upon the individual and 
is very much a moot point. 
However, a good many of these troubles 
are directly or indirectly of his own seeking 
although he may be quite unconscious of 
the fact. It would be absurdly fallacious 
to contend that with knowledge and care 
every Lily-lover can successfully cultivate 
any kind of Lily that pleased his fancy, but 
knowledge and care will teach what par- 
ticular kinds can successfully be grown and 
in time convince the enthusiast that he 
must be content with a limited number. 
Such knowledge may be of slow growth and 
painfully acquired but such we value most. 
Now, in passing, let us devote a few 
moments to considering the noblest of all 
the Lilies — L. auratum — the “Golden-rayed 
Lily of Japan.” How many millions of 
bulbs of this Lily have been imported, how 
many thousands of purchasers have been 
disappointed, how many letters pro- 
testing or seeking advice have been 
penned? This wonderful Lily flow- 
ered first in this country in 1862, in 
the garden of Francis Parkman, the 
historian, at Brookline, Mass., hav- 
ing been received from Japan through 
Mr. Gordon Dexter. In July, 1862, 
it flowered in England for the first 
time in Europe, with Messrs. Veitch, 
from bulbs received from Japan 
through their collector, John Gould 
Veitch. 
The Japanese eat the bulbs of 
Lilium auratum and several other 
species, but for its beauty they do 
not esteem it or any other true Lily 
— they never did. But in due time, 
after intercourse was established 
between Japan and western nations, 
largely through the vigorous action 
in 1853—54, of Commodore Perry of 
the U. S. Navy, the Japanese dis- 
covered that Lily bulbs could be 
sold for much money, so they began 
ransacking their country in quest of 
these bulbs. In those early days we 
are told the Yama-yuri, or Mountain 
Lily (. L . auratum), grew abundantly 
in the volcanic ash and detritus 
which form the slopes of sacred 
Where Mr. Wilson discovered the Regal Lily. A Sifan hamlet, in the 
valley of the Min River. 7,200 ft. elevation 
383 
'Copyright 1915 , by Doubleday, Page & Co. 
