OUR LILY GARDEN.
PRACTICAL AIDS TO THE CULTURE OF LILIES.
ByCHARLES PETERS.
A visitto the royal gardens at Kew is always a pleasant holiday. There is so much to see and admire, and so very much of what is quite new and unexpected, that all lovers of flowers must look both forward to and backwards at their visits to England’s greatest garden.
We remember strolling into the gardens on a June day last year. The weather was fine and warm, and the gardens were at their very best. We had been into the various greenhouses; had duly admired the airy lightness of the filmy ferns; had marvelled at the stalky palm or the ridiculous cactus (one of the latter we can never forget, for it bore a great pink blossom on what might have been mistaken for a savage’s club!) We had seen the great leaves of the Victoria lily, with its huge flower-bud not yet open; we had viewed with interest the curious sacred bean, and had been half-stifled in the dense atmosphere of the tropical orchid house. But it was not among the rare productions of the tropics; it was not in the greenhouse in which the choicest of flowers are exhibited in tasteful combination; it was not among the curious and beautiful orchids that the finest flower of June was to be seen.
No! The finest plant which flowered in Kew in that June was to be found in an open bed behind the great palm-house. On turning towards the rosery when leaving the tropical palm-house, our attention was arrested by a sheet of dazzling gold. We approached the spot and found that the object which had brought us thither was a bed of the great Caucasian lily orLilium Monodelphum.
There was nothing in any part of the gardens to equal this bed of homely, hardy lilies. It was perfectly lovely! The great yellow bells hanging in pyramidal masses were as elegant as they were gorgeous, and had the plant been growing in a hot-house itwould have been looked upon as one of the choicest productions of the tropics.
It was by no means the first time that we had seen this lily; but never before had we seen it in such perfection. Each flower-spike was perfect and bore from two to thirty blossoms.
Of all the Martagons,L. Monodelphumand its varieties is unquestionably the finest. Indeed, in none of the groups of lilies will you find more than two or three which will beat this species for splendour.
It is in the higher reaches of the Caucasus and the western parts of Persia that this lily is at home. And surely there can be but few finer sights in nature than a great mass of these lilies growing on a hill-side.
Lilium Monodelphumis one of the most characteristic of all the lilies. It grows to the height of four or five feet and bears a great pyramid of large, bright, canary-coloured blossoms, tinged with purple at the base and slightly spotted with black. The pollen is yellow. Though this lily is placed with the Martagons, it has but little in common with the lilies we considered last month. The flowers strongly recallLilium Nepaulense. They are very long and but slightly recurved, hanging downwards like yellow bells and swaying gently in the breeze. This plant has a very strong scent, which, though pleasant in the open ground, is intolerable in a room.
This is one of the few lilies which bear seed freely in England. In some seasons every blossom will be succeeded by a long six-sided pod. The seed, however, takes very long to grow.
In many waysL. MonodelphumresemblesL. Auratum. One of these ways is the extreme variability to which both are subject.
The colour of this species is usually of a bright canary yellow; but we have seen specimens of a very pale lemon colour with very few spots. Another not uncommon variety has deep almost saffron-coloured blossoms.
Then there is great variety in the size and number of the spots. One variety, calledSzovitzianum, is very freely spotted, while the type is often quite free from spots.
The colour of the pollen is also variable. InSzovitzianumit is chocolate colour, whilst in the other varieties it is yellow.
Even the shape of the flowers is variable, some varieties having blossoms far more recurved than others.
It is usual to divide the various varieties ofL. Monodelphumunder two heads. The first contains the typical or monodelphous forms. Here the blossoms are but little recurved, of a deep yellow, with yellow anthers. These varieties are said to flower two or three weeks before the second group; but we have not observed any difference in this respect.
The second orSzovitzianumgroup produces fewer flowers of very variable colour, but richly spotted with black. The pollen is chocolate colour, and the blossoms are more recurved. The flower buds are also visible as soon as the shoot is above ground, whereas in the former group the buds are enclosed till the lily is two or three feet high.
Unless the soil of your garden is exactly suited to it, you will find thatL. Monodelphumis by no means an easy flower to grow. But surely its extreme beauty is sufficient inducement to give a considerable amount of trouble to establish this fine plant. And when you have once succeeded in making it at home, it will not give you much further trouble, for it is perfectly hardy and increases moderately when it once gets a fair start.
A PRESENT FOR FRIENDS.
A PRESENT FOR FRIENDS.
A PRESENT FOR FRIENDS.
Rarely, if ever, does this lily do well during the first and second years after it has been shifted into new surroundings. It will come up right enough the first years, but the whole shoot will suddenly die down about the middle of May. What causes this queer behaviour we really cannot say.
L. Monodelphumwants a very heavy loam with a little clay in it. The loam must be of great depth, and should, if possible, rest on a chalky base. A little lime should be added to the soil, but peat should be excluded and sand should only be placed round the bulb. When the flower-buds show, a good thick top-dressing of old stable manure may be applied with advantage.
This lily should never be disturbed when once it has done well. It is better to place the bulbs very deep, say eighteen inches or so below the surface, and then the supernatant soil can be thoroughly dug and enriched every winter.
As a pot plant, this lily rarely does well, for it is almost impossible to give it sufficient depth of earth in a pot.
The nearest ally toL. Monodelphumis the very rareL. Polyphyllum. This lily is extremely beautiful, but is so uncommon that but few of our readers are likely to have seen it. We have only once seen it ourselves, and have never been able to obtain a bulb.
The bulb of this species is totally different from any other. It is long and thin, being composed of numerous long lance-shaped scales. As far as we know, the bulb is always pure white.
In growth this lily resembles the last, but it rarely reaches a greater height than three feet.
The flowers are longer but more reflexed than are those ofL. Monodelphum. They are of a beautiful creamy-white colour, curiously streaked with dark purple markings.
It was formerly grown under the name ofFritillaria Polyphylla, but that it is truly a lily is unquestionable. It is a native of the Himalayas, and we should think that its culture ought to be similar to that ofL. Giganteumfrom the same region. It is said to be perfectly hardy.
The North American Continent has given us many species of lilies. Up to the present we have only described three:L. Washingtonianum,L. Parryi, andL. Philadelphicum. These three lilies are certainly very different from any that the Old Continent has given us. But we now meet with ten species, very nearly allied, and yet in no way resembling any others.
These are the swamp lilies, a sub-section of the Martagons, the ten members of which are all confined to North America. And they are a very characteristic group of lilies.
In most of these species the bulb is annual, being produced at the extremity of a thick perennial rhizome. Why all the American lilies (except three) should bear rhizomes and annual bulbs, while all the Old World species bear perennial bulbs without rhizomes we cannot say, but there must be some important reason to account for it.
There is only one American lily which bears a globose bulb in any way like the ordinary bulbs of the Eastern species. This lily isLilium Columbianum, a perfect little gem in its way.
In all the swamp lilies, the leaves are arranged in whorls, the stems are tall and slender, and the blossoms are nodding, only slightly recurved, and of a yellow or orange colour, usually spotted more or less thickly with black or purple.
The following are the ten species of swamp lilies, together with the districts from which they hail:—
By some authoritiesL. Parvum,L. Maritimum,L. RoezliiandL. Grayiare considered to be merely varieties ofL. Canadense; andL. Californicumis said to be only a variation fromL. Pardalinum, but we prefer to consider them as separate species.
And there are some authors who considerLilium Bolanderi,L. Pardalinum Michauxi,L. Pardalinum Wareiand others, which we consider to be merely varieties, to be distinct species.
The culture of the swamp lilies is perfectly simple, and if attention is paid to one or two details, failure is extremely improbable.
The swamp lilies want peat; they will grow in a mixture of peat and sand. But to thoroughly establish them a compost of peat, leaf-mould and sand should be used. If to this can be added the dried mud from the bottom of a ditch, so much the better. These lilies are always thirsty, and can never get too much water. They like a shady swampy spot, some of them preferring the drier banks of streams. The bulb must be handled with great care, for both the bulb itself and the rhizome are very tender, and the numerous thick fleshy scales which compose them are readily detached by rough handling.
To all the above rules for growing the swamp lilies,L. HumboldtiandL. Columbianumare exceptions.
By far the best known of this group of lilies isLilium Canadense, the Canada Lily. This is the only one of the group which can be considered as an old garden plant. It has been grown in England now for a long time, and was the fifth lily to be cultivated in our island.
This lily is a very pretty flower, not gorgeous nor pretentious as are so many of the genus, but quiet and homely. It grows about four feet high; the stem is very slender, and the leaves are whorled. In the middle of summer it bears from three to fifteen blossoms like small stars. They are bright orange in colour, thickly spotted with deep purple, and about an inch and a half across. Their chief beauty lies in the way they hang, for they are very gracefully swung. The segments are not reflexed, and the plant more nearly resembles theEulirionsthan it does the typical Martagons.
The lily is subject to great variety, especially in the colour of the blossoms, which vary from lemon yellow to brick red. There is a great number of named varieties, but they are all more or less inconstant. By some authorities nearly all the other swamp lilies are considered to be merely variations fromLilium Canadense.
Although, as we have said, theCanadalily has long been cultivated in England, it does not always take kindly to our soil, and very often it speedily degenerates, and in a few years disappears. But if the soil is really to its liking, it will often flourish in England. Like so many of its congeners, it is very impatient of removal, and when once established it should be left alone.
A fitting companion to the last, but of greater vigour and considerably superior dimensions is theLilium Superbumof the United States of America.
This species is often confused with the last, but it can readily be distinguished by the form of its bulb and rhizome; its greater vigour and more robust growth; the shape of the flower buds, which is triangular inL. Canadense, and rounded inL. Superbum; and by the blossoms themselves, which are far larger, very revolute and marked with a green star formed by the green ribs of the segments. In this respectL. SuperbumresemblesL. Speciosum. It also produces more blossoms than doesL. Canadense, and flowers later in the season.
The root of this lily is typical of those species which bear annual bulbs and perennial rhizomes. The bulb is small, about as large as a walnut, composed of thick, short, fleshy scales, very closely packed together, but easily detached by a rough hand. It closely resembles a young fir-cone, but is more spherical. The rhizome or sucker is about as thick as a man’s little finger, and from one to four inches long. It is hard, but brittle, and regularly dotted with small scales.
As far as we have been able to follow the life history of the underground portions of rhizome rooted lilies, we have come to the conclusion that in all the bulbs are annual and are produced in the early autumn when the flower spike is dying. It is usually stated that in some species,i.e.,L. Canadense, the bulbs are annual; but in other species, such asL. Superbum, the bulbs are perennial. Perhaps this is usually the case, but it certainly is not so with our lilies. We do not say that the old bulb is entirely destroyed when once it has flowered; a little nucleus is left which sometimes develops afresh into a new bulb. But the tendency of all the American lilies is to run along under the ground, shifting their position every year.
The flowers ofL. Superbumare numerous. They much resemble those ofL. Canadense, but are larger, more recurved, and less graceful. They also have the curious green star above referred to. This alone is quite sufficient to distinguish the species from the other swamp lilies.
It is a fine lily, and of course a fine plant, but it is not superb, anymore thanL. Elegansis elegant.
The culture is the same as that ofL. Canadense. It is, however, a much more satisfactory species to grow.
Lilium Parvum, the little lily, is a graceful plant bearing numerous small blossoms of a full orange, spotted with black.
Lilium Parvumis another misnamed lily, for it often grows five feet high, which is far taller than most lilies. It sometimes bears as many as fifty blossoms.
Lilium Maritimumresembles the last, but the blossoms are far fewer, and are of a brick-red colour. Both these lilies resembleL. Canadensein their growth and habits. The bulb ofL. Parvumresembles that ofLilium Pardalinumon a small scale.
Lilium Roezlii, another similar species, bears yellow flowers richly spotted with purple. The bulb is rhizomatous. We figured the bulb of this lily in our October part.L. Grayiwe know little or nothing of. We possess a root, but it seems reluctant to flower.
The panther lily, orLilium Pardalinum, is the finest of the swamp lilies, Humboldt’s lily perhaps excepted. This lily has so much in its favour that it should be grown by everyone who possesses a soil suitable to its culture.
The bulb of this lily is very long, and the rhizome is covered with scales, so that it is impossible to say where the bulb ends and the rhizome begins. It is yellowish in colour, often suffused with pink.
In growth it resemblesL. Superbum, but the inflorescence is quite distinct. The flowers are large; the segments deep red for their outer half and bright orange at their base, thickly spotted with black. In the centre of the red portion of the segment is a large black spot bordered with yellow, which gives the whole flower a very attractive appearance. The petioles, or stalks which support the blossoms, are very gracefully curved, a characteristic very well portrayed in the accompanying drawing. Each stem will produce from three to eight blossoms, each about two and a half inches across.
This is another very variable lily, and a large number of its varieties have received special names. The varietyAugustifolium, figured in our illustration, is the one commonly grown.L. Pardalinum Wareihas flowers of an unspotted apricot colour. It is extremely rare and expensive.L. BourgoeiandL. Pallidifoliumare varieties which our knowledge of lilies is insufficient to differentiate.
Perhaps a variety ofL. Pardalinum, but more probably a distinct species,Lilium Californicumis distinguished from the last lily by the fewness, but large size, of its blossoms, the greater brilliance of its colour, the abrupt transition from the red to the orange portions of the perianth, and the browner colour of its spots.
L. PardalinumandL. Californicumrequire the same treatment as the other swamp lilies except that they must have more leaf mould, more of the mud from the ditch, if you can get it, and less peat and less water.
The last two of the swamp lilies of North America stand apart from those which we have just considered, as they differ very greatly in almost every particular.
Lilium Humboldti, by far the finest of the swamp lilies, is a plant which every lover of gorgeous flowers should grow if he can. We said “if he can,” for we cannot grow it! The plants do very well till the blossoming season approaches, and then they die suddenly. Yet the bulbs are not diseased, and the roots are chiefly normal.
The bulb of this species is long, oblique, and perennial. It does not bear a rhizome, but it much resembles that ofL. Washingtonianum.
In its growth and in its leaves this species resemblesL. Washingtonianum, but its blossoms would surprise anybody who had never seen them. They are so different from any other flower in nature except the little lily which is described below. Ten, twenty, forty, even fifty blossoms may be borne by one stalk. These flowers are about four inches long, completely recurved, but the tips of the segments stand away from their bases on a pedicel of four or five inches length. In colour they are a flaming orange-yellow, quite a different kind of yellow from that ofMonodelphum, spotted and splashed with a rich purple brown.
We wish we could grow this lily, but unfortunately this is one of our failures. It cannot be helped, we must try again; perhaps we shall discover how to grow it in time.
From the last paragraph it follows that our opinion upon the cultivation of this lily is not worth much. But we can tell you what not to do and what we intend to do next year.
Do not grow this lily in peat. We imagined that the same treatment as we gave the other swamp lilies would suit this one; but it did not. We believe that it will do best if treated as we advised forL. WashingtonianumorL. Monodelphum. Still, we cannot grow the lily ourselves, and we are not the only people who have difficulty with it. If you want to know how to cultivate this lily, you must discover the way yourself.
If you look atL. Humboldtithrough the wrong end of a telescope, you will get a very fair idea ofLilium Columbianum, the last of this group of lilies. It will not, however, be a perfect resemblance, for the flowers of the smaller species are more revolute and not nearly so richly spotted. The bulb of this lily is ovoidal in shape. Indeed, it is the only lily found in America which possesses an egg-shaped bulb.
This lily is not difficult to cultivate, a rich peaty soil with plenty of ditch mud suiting it admirably. It flowers in the middle of June, and is altogether a most satisfactory and beautiful plant.
(To be continued.)