HORTICULTURAL SPECIALIST 
13 
HARDY LILIUMS 
These are one of my leading specialties, and a 
large proportion of those offered are home grown 
bulbs. The coming of Lilium regale paved the way 
for a tremendously increased interest in Lilies. 
Whereas formerly but a limited number of varieties 
were listed or grown, the demand today is for a very 
much wider assortment, embracing practically all 
Lilies which will grow in North America. The bulb 
rooting varieties like Candidum and Testaceum 
should be planted quite shallow, 2-3 inches suffices, 
while such stem rooters as regale, speciosum, aura- 
turn, Henryi, Formosanum, Browni, and others should 
be covered 8-12 inches. All Lilies should be planted 
where their feet will be dry in winter, fresh manure 
must never be used in the soil at planting time, if 
very old and well decayed it is all right, all lilies 
love leaf mold and they seem to root with avidity in 
peat moss, sand is good for all of them and at 
planting time a cushion should be placed for each 
bulb to rest on scattering more above them. 
Candidum can be planted from early August on¬ 
wards, the majority of other lilies are ready in 
October but the imported bulbs of speciosums and 
auratum with one or two other varieties rarely ar¬ 
rive in America before December 1, sometimes much 
later, if places where these are to go are mulched 
to exclude frost they can be planted in either De¬ 
cember or January, failing this bulbs should be 
either kept in dry soil over winter in a cold cellar 
or potted and planted out in early spring. Bulbs 
should never be left exposed to sun and air for more 
than a brief time, scales will soon lose their plump¬ 
ness, and shrivelled bulbs will never give the same 
results as plump ones. The idea that Lilies must be 
planted in either fall or early spring is utterly wrong. 
During recent winters we have planted out large 
numbers during December, January, February and 
March, always with excellent results. Not only may 
Lilies be planted while they are dormant or nearly 
so, but they can safely be moved while in active 
growth. We find that Lilies do not require much win¬ 
ter mulching. A few varieties like sulphureum, 
japonicum, rubellum and certain Pacific Coast varie¬ 
ties will however be benefited by a covering. 
Virtually all North American lilies are vastly better 
fall planted, little if any flowers need be expected 
from spring plantings, the same holds true of nearly 
all European varieties. They will make fine bulbs 
however to flower a year later. The later lilies are 
planted in the spring the poorer they will flower. A 
large proportion of lilies sold in spring have been 
carried over winter in cold storage and good results 
from them cannot be expected. 
We have received numerous gold and silver medals 
for our exhibits of Lilies at the exhibitions of the 
Massachusetts Horticultural Society, the most recent 
gold medal being on August 18, 1937. 
List of Liliums Suitable for Spring 
Plantings 
Auratum. (Golden banded lily of Japan.) Mas¬ 
sive flowers, each with a distinct gold band, 
very fragrant. 25-50 cents each, $2.50-$5.00 doz. 
