T H E G A R I) E X M A G A Z I N E 
285 
The Regal Lily, pure white with glowing yellow throat, is 
a welcome addition to our hardy plants 
L. myriophyllum), can withstand much 
desiccation but these in a natural state 
have their foil of herbs and scrub. 
Journey in thought with me, for a moment 
or two, westward until west becomes east 
although we still chase the setting sun. 
Across this continent, across that broad 
ocean, misnamed “Pacific,” to Shanghai 
the gate of Far Cathay; onward and west- 
ward up the mighty Yangtsze River for 
eighteen hundred miles, then northward, 
up its tributary the Min, some two hundred 
and fifty miles to the confines of mysterious 
Thibet; to that little-known hinterland 
which separates China proper from the 
hierarchy of Lliassa; to a wild and mount- 
ainous country peopled mainly by strange 
tribesfolk of unknown origin; to a land 
where Lamaism, Buddhism, and Phallism 
strive for mastery of men’s souls; to a 
region where mighty empires meet. There 
in narrow semi-arid valleys down which 
thunder torrents, and encompassed by 
mountains composed of mudshales and 
granites whose peaks are clothed with snow 
eternal, the Regal Lily has its home. In 
summer the heat is terrific, in winter the 
cold is intense, and at all seasons these 
valleys are subject to sudden and violent 
windstorms against which neither man nor 
beast can make headway. There, in June, 
by the wayside, in rock-crevices by the 
torrent’s edge, and high up on the mountain- 
side and precipice this Lily in full bloom 
greets the weary wayfarer. Not in twos 
and threes but in hundreds, in thousands, 
aye, in tens of thousands. Its slender 
stems, each two to four feet tall, flexible 
and tense as steel, overtopping the coarse 
grass and scrub and crowned with one to 
several large, funnel-shaped flowers more 
or less wine-colored without, pure white and 
lustrous on the face, clear canary -yellow 
within the tube and each stamen tipped 
with a golden anther. The air in the cool 
of the morning and in the evening is laden 
with soft delicious perfume exhaled from 
each bloom. For a brief season this lonely, 
semi-desert region is transformed by this 
Lily into a veritable fairyland. 
Since we have, figuratively, traveled so 
far to see one Lily in its home surroundings, 
let us in the same manner journey a hundred 
miles or so further and to the southwest, 
and there, in valleys clothed with coarse 
grasses and low shrubs and under con- 
ditions but little less severe to the preceding 
and in equal abundance, we find Mrs. 
Charles S. Sargent’s Lily ( L . Sargentiae) 
reigning supreme. Westward some few 
miles and on the margin of shrubberies at 
eight thousand feet above sea-level and on 
the very edge of the Thibetan grasslands 
grows Mrs. Bayard Thayer’s Lily (L. 
Thayerae). There are other Lilies which we 
have not time to consider but on our home- 
The Golden-rayed Lily of Japan can be grown successfully 
if its habits are studied — it dislikes a peaty soil 
ward journey let us pause for a moment 
in the geographical heart of China, in the 
region of the famous Yangtsze Gorges, and 
visit the haunt of the Orange-flowered 
Speciosum ( L . Henryi ). Inland a few 
miles from the riverine city of Ichang, on 
formations of conglomerate and carboni- 
ferous limestones, at the edge of woods and 
among tall shrubs we find here a few and 
there many of Henry’s charming Lily. 
From these distant regions came the bulbs 
of these Lilies and I count it a privilege to 
have been the fortunate discoverer of two, 
the introducer of three, and the medium 
through which the fourth ( L . Henryi ) first 
became common in cultivation. I could 
tell of others equally beautiful were any 
good purpose to be served and I mention 
these four not for personal reasons but to 
direct attention to the conditions under 
which they grow wild and to emphasize 
that, though sun-loving and capable of 
withstanding much desiccation both from 
the action of sun and frost, they grow 
naturally among protective herbs and 
shrubs. These herbs and shrubs afford 
protection in two ways: In spring they 
screen from the sun’s direct rays the young 
flower-stem of the Lily after it emerges from 
mother earth; in the autumn the fallen 
leaves of the shrubs and the dying culms of 
the herbs form a protective mulch which as 
it decays becomes a nourishing food. 
This brief sketch of the conditions under 
Mrs. Sargent’s Lily is one of Mr. Wilson’s discoveries. 
Flowers white, appearing just after the Regal Lily 
which certain Lilies grow wild enables us to 
deduce certain facts of cultural importance. 
In the first place, Lilies should be planted 
among dwarf shrubs such for example, as 
Lavender, wild Roses, Deutzias, Indigo- 
feras, Lespedezas, Comptonia, Vacciniums, 
Ericas, Calluna, native Azaleas, Rhododen- 
drons and, where climate admits, shrubby 
Veronicas, Olearias, etc. 
Now planting Lilies among shrubs is no 
new idea; twenty-five years or more ago 
it came into vogue. Someone achieved great 
success through planting Lilies among Rho- 
dodendrons and the cry went forth that this 
was the solution of the Lily grower’s troubles 
— plant Lilies among Rhododendrons. It 
is quite true that a number of species 
like L. pardalinum, L. superbum , L. speci- 
osum, L. Hansonii (and I have also seen L. 
auratum) do well under such conditions. 
Also it is true that Rhododendrons require 
peat and here is the rub. All Lilies love 
leafsoil but a great many detest peat. I 
have seen L. Henryi grow ten feet tall in 
loam and leafsoil and continue to thrive for 
many years. I have seen this Lily disappear 
completely in two seasons when planted in 
pure peat. Plant Lilies among shrubs, but 
let the class of shrubs depend upon whether 
the particular species of Lily loves loam or 
humus. For my own part I would keep 
away from peat except for swamp Lilies 
and use fibrous loam, sand, and leafsoil, the 
latter in increasing proportion as to species 
that grow naturally in fairly open country, 
thickets or woods. 
Another and very obvious deduction is 
the importance of mulching. In every 
garden much ground is bare of vegetation 
and fully exposed to the sun and elements. 
In spring as the frost disappears, an in- 
spection will show that this ground is 
fissured and furrowed in many directions 
and any kind of bulb which had been 
planted in such bare soil is often more or 
less exposed. This may be avoided and 
much benefit bestowed on all bulbs by 
