HARDY ORNAMENTALS, HERBACEOUS PLANTS, ETC 
17 
LEUCOCRINUM montanum. A small plant from Northern California. One of the Lily family; 
flowers white. 12 cts. each, $1 per dozen. 
LI HUM (Lily). Probably no genus of cultivated 
plants is so well known and highly prized as 
this. The species are among the grandest and 
most beautiful of cultivated bulbs. Their 
variously colored flowers, often agreeably fra¬ 
grant, are indispensable to a well-selected col¬ 
lection of hardy plants. About all of the 
species are hardy in well drained soil. It is 
well, however, as a precaution against very se¬ 
vere frost, to cover the bulbs in autumn. A few 
inches of horse-manure, well mixed with straw, 
as it often is when it comes fresh from the 
stable, makes a very good covering; besides, 
the rains and melting snows carry the fertiliz¬ 
ing strength of this down into the soil before it 
is removed in the spring. Thus, it answers a 
double purpose. Occasionally there is a species 
that might be injured by the manure, but I 
have found it an excellent covering for all I 
have grown. Cocoanut fiber is also recom¬ 
mended, and pine needles, when available, are 
very good. A foot of snow is the best protec¬ 
tion of all, but this cannot be relied on. Two 
or three inches of forest leaves, with a thin 
layer of swale hay to hold them in place, is also 
good. Some of the stronger-growing kinds arc 
well suited for planting among shrubbery. * In 
the cultivation of Lilies, the first and most im¬ 
portant requirement is good drainage. If the soil 
itself is not suited to the species, it may be easily 
modified by the use of such mixtures as sand, 
peat and leaf-mold, but without the drainage 
all such are useless. Most Lilies prefer peat, 
and when this is obtainable, a mixture with 
loam and leaf-mold is very beneficial. It is 
well, however, to have it well composted. Raw 
peat taken freshly from the bed or bog should 
be used with caution. It is well not to allow 
the bulbs to be exposed to the air or light any 
great length of time ; the outside scales of such 
exposed bulbs wither, which greatly diminishes 
their strength It is, therefore, generally better 
to obtain bulbs fresh from the nursery, which, 
if packed immediately after lifting in damp 
sphagnum moss, will stand a journey of 8 or 12 
days, and arrive in the most perfect condition. 
Cafe should be taken to plant such as quickly 
as possible after their arrival, and they should 
not be unpacked until after the soil is prepared 
for them. Lilies often do much better the sec¬ 
ond or third year after planting. They seem 
to require time to establish themselves, espe- lilium auratum. (See page 18.) 
cially if they are such as have been long out of 
the ground. Bulbs fresh from the nursery, taken up with their entire roots and packed so their 
roots do not dry or wither, do not usually take so much time to get a start. It is generally believed 
that the best time to set Lilies is in autumn, but I have had quite as good success with spring setting. 
If they are taken fresh from the nursery before they have advanced too far in growth, they do nicely. 
