February  14,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
131 
our  beet  Lily  growers  as  to  the  best  species  for  cultivation,  and  one  is 
surprised  to  find  how  few  there  are  which  are  spoken  of  in  very  high 
terms.  It  is  a  fact  that  I  think  is  much  to  be  deplored,  more 
especially  as  there  does  not  seem  to  be  any  remedy  for  it.  Take  for 
example  that  most  gorgeous  and  striking  beauty,  Lilium  aqratum,  how 
impossible  it  seems  to  be  to  preserve  the  bulbs  from  year  to  year.  It 
has  done  well,  it  may  be,  for  a  couple  of  years,  and  one  hopes  that  it  is 
going  to  establish  itself  ;  but  in  the  third  year  it  begins  to  show  signs 
of  diminution  in  vigour,  the  flowers  are  few  and  not  so  large  as  they 
have  been,  and  when  you  come  to  take  up  the  bulb  in  the  autumn  you 
find,  alas !  not  that  it  has  rotted,  but  it  has  broken  into  a  number  of 
tiny  bulbs  of  no  value  to  the  cultivator.  We  have  no  means  of 
ascertaining  whether  the  same  thing  takes  place  in  Japan,  but  we  do 
know  that  some  years  ago  a  large  quantity  of  the  Lily  gardens  in 
Japan  fell  victims  to  a  disease  which  made  them  utterly  useless,  and 
houses  which  had  bean  in  the  habit  of  importing  in  large  quantities 
were  obliged  to  announce  that  their  supply  had  failed.  This  was  said 
to  be  due  to  over-propagation,  and  may  possibly  have  been  so. 
This  tendency  has  been  exemplified  in  a  curious  way.  A  new  Lily 
was  introduced  by  the  well-known  firm  of  Wallace  &  Co.,  Colchester ; 
it  was  said  to  be  a  natural  hybrid  between  L.  auratum  and  L.  speciosum 
or  lancifolium  ;  both  the  habit  of  growth,  foliage,  and  bulbs  seemed  to 
favour  this  notion  ;  it  is  very  richly  coloured,  and  we  anticipated  much 
from  it.  I  flowered  it  for  two  years,  and  hoped  it  was  going  to  continue 
with  me  (of  course  in  pots),  but  the  third  year  it  went  the  way  of  the 
auratums.  There  is  one  curious  fact  about  these  Lilies  that  I  do  not 
understand.  They  throw  out  a  quantity  of  roots  from  where  the 
flowering  stem  emanated,  but  they  seemed  to  be  of  no  value  whatever 
for  the  future  maintenance  of  the  bulb,  and  unless  you  get  good  fleshy 
roots  from  the  base  of  the  bulb  it  is  of  no  use  trying  to  keep  it. 
Perhaps  the  most  generally  grown  Lily  is  L.  testaceum.  It  is  said 
to  be  a  garden  hybrid  from  L.  candidum.  It  is  one  which  all  those  who 
sent  in  their  reports  of  Lilies  commended.  It  grows  from  6  to  7  feet 
high,  and  the  strong  flowering  stems  have  a  goodly  number  of  its 
beautiful  apricot-coloured  flowers ;  it  is  also  known  as  L.  isabelinum 
and  L.  excelsum.  There  are  numbers  of  very  beautiful  Lilies  which 
reach  us  from  the  warmer  parts  of  North  India  and  Burmah,  but  as  far 
as  I  can  see  or  have  experienced  their  culture  is  hopeless,  such  as 
L.  nepalense,  L.  nilgherense,  and  L.  Lowi.  The  very  beautiful 
Lilium  canadense. 
Lilium  Henryi. 
L.  sulphureum’seems  to  be  of  a  better  constitution,  and  more  amenable 
to  pot  culture.  I  have  not  tried  it  out  of  doors,  but  I  have  had  it 
several  years  in  pots,  and  have  been  greatly  charmed  by  its  exquisite 
colour.  The  North  American  canadense  is  very  beautiful. 
The  Tiger  Lilies  have  long  been  denizens  of  our  gardens,  and  have 
always  been  a  favourite  with  our  cottagers.  It  is  perfectly  hardy,  and 
has  received  since  Mr.  Fortune’s  visit  to  China  two  charming  additions, 
L.  Fortunei  and  L.  splendens,  equally  vigorous  as  the  old  variety,  but 
with  more  beautiful  flowers.  I  hardly  know  what  to  say  about 
L.  speciosum  (lancifolium),  but  I  think  they  may  be  counted  as  those 
that  do  not  want  constantly  renewing  in  our  flower  beds.  The  most 
beautiful  of  these  is  L.  Melpomene,  very  rich  in  colour  and  good  in 
constitution;  they  make  a  charming  clump  in  the  flower  border. 
The  longiflorum  section  also  does  very  well  in  most  gardens. 
Additions  are  frequently  made  to  it,  putting  forward  strong  claims  for 
acceptance,  and  some  of  the  new  varieties  do  seem  to  be  improvements. 
I  say  nothing  about  L.  Harrisi,  as  I  have  never  been  able  to  do  anything 
with  it  after  the  first  year  ;  it  comes  to  us  in  immense  quantities  every 
year  from  Bermuda,  whose  climate  has  caused  a  remarkable  develop¬ 
ment  in  increasing  its  vigour  and  blooming  qualities.  But  although  I 
have  planted  the  bulbs  every  year  after  they  have  flowered  in  pots,  I 
have  never  been  able  keep  any  of  them  alive. 
Lilium  giganteum  is  another  unsatisfactory  Lily,  that  seems  to 
exhaust  itself  in  its  first  flowering,  and  you  can  find  no  trace  of  its 
bulbs  afterwards.  I  have,  however,  seen  that  “  E.  Y.  V.,”  in  her 
pleasant  gossiping  book,  “  Letters  from  Sylvana  to  an  Unknown 
Friend,”  speaks  of  it  as  coming  up  stronger  year  after  year,  and  this  in 
the  very  North  of  Scotland,  in  Aberdeenshire.  Lilium  Henryi  is  one 
of  our  recent  introductions,  and  is  one  of  our  most  valuable  acquisitions; 
it  is  a  grand  plant,  growing  sometimes  to  8  feet  in  height,  while  its 
beautiful  bloom  entitles  it  to  be  called  the  orange-yellow  speciosum. 
The  umbellatum  section,  with  its  upright  spikes  of  flowers  of  brilliant 
colour,  amongst  which  I  note  the  orange  Lily,  is  also  hardy,  although 
I  once  or  twice  mysteriously  lost  large  clumps  of  it,  and  which  I  must 
attribute  to  some  parasitio  attack.  Flowering  as  these  Lilies  do  in 
Jnly,  they  are  a  very  pleasant  addition  to  the  plants  which  fill  our 
gardens  in  that  flowery  month.  I  do  not  touch  upon  any  of  those 
plants  which  are  commonly  called  Lilies,  but  do  not  really  belong  to 
the  tribe.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  although  we  must  discard  many  as 
permanent  additions  to  our  gardens,  there  are  still  a  number  of  very 
beautiful  ones  left  for  us  to  cherish  and  cultivate. — D.,  Deal. 
