HINTS ON LILY CULTURE 
ies, like Henryi, will show growth in 
time to be caught by late frosts; others 
are slower to appear. My myriophyl- 
lum showed above the ground last 
Spring on June twentieth, and I have 
known L. auratum to stay dormant 
two years making roots, and growing 
plump, before sending any growth 
above ground. 
Lilies should be watered only until 
flowering. Keep the ground moist and 
cool in Summer with a mulch of leaf- 
mold or peatmoss, which should be 
put on at the advent of hot weather— 
probably June. Remove the mulch 
when Fall rains come; and after the 
ground freezes, mulch again to pre¬ 
vent damage from alternate freezing 
and thawing. Well-rotted manure 
makes a good winter mulch for most 
Lilies. Remove the mulch in the Spring 
before growing weather comes, as 
spring mulch encourages early growth 
which may get frost-bitten. The tem¬ 
perature next to a straw mulch may 
be five or six degrees F. cooler than 
the surface of unmulched soil nearby. 
That much difference may be destruc¬ 
tive. 
FERTILIZE CAREFULLY 
Do not allow raw fertilizer to come 
in contact with lily bulbs. Bonemeal 
is safe for use in early Spring. If a so- 
called balanced plant food is used, one 
analyzing high in phosphorus and po¬ 
tassium is preferable. I use a 3-10-10 
formula. Apply small quantities fre¬ 
quently and work into the soil before 
watering. It is better to fertilize the 
ground the year before the Lilies are 
planted. Remove and burn withered 
flowers. Allowing Lilies to bear seed 
reduces the next year’s flowering. “Do 
not allow the Lily to bloom at all the 
first year,” would be better advice but 
I know better than to offer it. Few 
gardeners have the fortitude required 
to pinch all the buds off a new plant. 
I made remarks similar to this .before 
a Flower Club a few years ago, and 
a listener said, “I know that is true. 
I planted a Gold-banded Lily (L. aur¬ 
atum) a few years ago. It did well, 
but just before it bloomed some child¬ 
ren playing around it broke the stem; 
