Lily Culture 
To grow Lilies successfully the bulbs must first have a clean bill 
of health. To that end this stock is grown mostly from seed in isolated 
plantings on four separate farms ageregating 500 acres of fresh 
soil in the foothills of Oregon’s Cascade Range. 
The second requisite is that the bulbs arrive at the proper time in 
prime condition, fresh and with roots preserved, which is our 
responsibility. 
Third the bulbs must be planted where drainage is good or else 
provided. Whether your soil is clay, loam, sand, silt or peat; the expos- 
ure sunny or shady; the temperatures moderate or extreme; the hu- 
midity high or low; the rainfall excessive or minimal; your soil rich or 
poor; you can have Lilies flowering all summer if you have, or can 
provide, drainage above and below the bulb. Drainage—the kind that 
allows water to move through the soil—is necessary not only for 
Lilies but for other bulbs as well as for most shrubs and plants. If 
you grow the more generally known perennials such as Primroses, 
Daffodils, Delphinium, Phlox and the like, your soil will grow Lilies. 
If, however, your garden is very poorly drained, you can improve 
the Sete well enough to establish Lilies by one of the following 
methods: . 
1. In heavy adobe soils, characteristic of some areas in California, 
plant the bulbs on a slope. Work materials such as leaf mold or other 
decayed organic matter, sand, Vermiculite, pumice, crushed rock, 
gravel, charcoal, peat MOSS, rotted sawdust, compost ete (in combina- 
tions according to what is easily obtained) deeply into the soil of the 
slope’ above and below the location of the bulb. Loosen the soil as 
much as possible directly beneath the bulb before planting and 
cover the bulb with a prepared mixture containing enough sand or 
gravel to insure drainage. Planting the bulb in a pocket of sand is 
of no particular help, often it merely serves as a reservoir which 
collects and holds the moisture. Neither is planting the bulb on its 
side necessary. It will not provide drainage and more likely will cause 
the stem to emerge some distance from the anticipated spot. 
If you are unable to plant ona slope in a garden in which the drain- 
age problem is almost hopeless, there still is a way to overcome the 
problem, and that is to plant in raised beds. Loosen the ground as 
much as possible, make a frame of 6, 8 or 10 inch boards large enough 
to accommodate the number of bulbs to be planted, fill in the frame 
with a couple of inches of prepared soil ,place the bulbs and cover 
with more prepared soil. 
If only a few bulbs are to be planted in this manner and you would 
like them in a mixed border or some place where a wooden frame 
would be conspicuous, knock the bottom out of a large flower pot, 
five gallon can or wooden tub and plant in the same manner. For 
most varieties the container need be only 5 or 6 inches above ground 
level. : 
If your soil is impossible to work and drainage so inadequate that 
no bulbs prosper, or all of this sounds like entirely too much work 
to provide drainage, plant the bulbs directly into pots, tubs or other 
‘containers as soon as received in the fall. Leave them; in any place 
you wish (some moisture should be present), in light or darkness, 
BD 
