THE ^ANNUNCIATION LILY 
Three Hundred Lilies Dating Three Quarters of a Century Back Disproving the 
Popular Belief That This Flower of Ancient Lineage Does Not Endure—Summer 
Planting and a Little Winter Care Are All That 11 Asks Even in the Colder Regions 
1. WHAT CAME OF A BOY’S LOVE FOR HIS MOTHER 
LOUISA L. SMITH 
THE year 1848 a small boy was sent on business from 
Constantia, N. Y., on Oneida Lake, to Oswego; and 
diere he saw his first Madonna Lily. He was so 
anxious to carry home to his mother one of the plants 
that the lady who had the Lilies gave him a bulb in bloom, 
sure though she was that it would not live. The boy trudged 
home behind the team of oxen carefully carrying the Lily which 
was planted out and grew and multiplied. When the family 
moved to Kinderhook and later to Whitesboro (in the same 
state), the Lilies went, too, and grew better each year. The 
blossoms were sent to the sick and afflicted. 
The boy grew to manhood and went to Illinois to make a new 
home, taking some Lily bulbs (for his one had now multiplied 
into many) to beautify his new garden. Thus the Lilies became 
a family tradition. As the years went on a daughter from this 
home married and removed to Dixon, Illinois, where a new Lily 
bed was started with a few bulbs from home. This particular 
bed (shown in the accompanying photograph) now has more 
than three hundred bulbs and last year (1923) there were more 
than three hundred blossoming stalks with from five to fourteen 
flowers on each stalk—some stalks being more than four feet 
tall. As this is written, the Lilies for 1924 are in flourishing 
condition despite the cold, late spring. 
If starting a new bed of Madonna Lilies in late August or 
early September, make the soil fine but not rich, and place the 
bulbs six inches deep and six inches apart. The early fall rains 
will coax growth, and the crown of green leaves will be well 
started before frost. In this climate (northern Illinois) it is neces¬ 
sary to cover with leaves, and in the latter part of November 
boards are placed (not too close together) to prevent leaves from 
being blown away. In April take off the boards, and loosen the 
leaves lightly, but leave on the greater part for mulching. Oc¬ 
casionally stir the soil with a trowel, but do not over-cultivate. 
The time of flowering varies from June twentieth to the first 
week in July. Every four or five years the bulbs should be reset 
in new ground. It is my opinion that the flowers should be cut 
and not allowed to wither. I have never lost a bulb from dry 
rot or any other disease. 
THREE HUNDRED MADONNA LILIES IN AN ILLINOIS GARDEN 
Quite evidently the Madonna or Annunciation Lily is both prolific and long-lived, for the ancestors of this flourishing group date back 
to 1848 (see text above) and survived some seven hundred miles of travel before being permanently established in Mrs. W. H. Smith's 
garden at Dixon, III. Photographed on June 23, 1923, as they bloomed against a background of shrubbery and small Walnut trees 
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