HINTS ON LILY 
CULTURE 
M ANY Lilies will flourish where the 
common perennials do well. If 
your conditions are favorable you can 
just plant the bulbs and let them alone, 
but if grading operations or other 
causes have altered the natural soil 
some preparation is necessary for sat¬ 
isfactory results. Too many people are 
trying to make a garden on what the 
contractor dug out of the basement. It 
is usually better to cart this material 
away and make the garden fit the 
natural contour of the land. 
DRAINAGE 
1 
All Lilies like good drainage. Most of 
them will grow on a good sandy loam 
where water does not stand. Even the 
so-called Bog Lilies want their bulbs 
above water level. If your garden does 
not slope enough for drainage, it is 
better to raise the lily bed than to dig 
a hole where stagnant water may dam¬ 
age the bulbs. 
Sunlight is indispensable, but most 
of the species appreciate the shade of 
neighboring plants at least a part of 
the day. In the filtered sunshine of 
Puget Sound, many lilies do well in the 
open field, hence our commercial plant¬ 
ings. Loosely-growing shrubs or herb¬ 
aceous plants shelter Lilies from des¬ 
tructive winds as well as shade the soil, 
thus checking evaporation and pro¬ 
tecting the tender growth from spring 
frosts. Lilies planted too near a build¬ 
ing usually suffer from a lack of water; 
the south side of a fence is better. 
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