THE GARDEN.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 33, 7 February 1906, Page 9

THE GARDEN.

(BY HORTUS.) ("Hortns ,, la, -wining to answer - any ' •jueries. Correspondents must give thefi nomes aad addresses, though no* foi puuiicatioii.) • " LIFTING LILIL-JIS AFTER FLOWERING A good many people at this season of tluyear and later are troubled :is to the treai ment required by their Ullums after they are doDe floworing and have matured theii growth. . They should be treated on the principle of "!eave well alone." Except th srowth of the present s-vason has beei weak ami tho flowering unsatisfactory there Is no reason why they should be lift <*i at all. So ioug as they m-ake gooc, growth and flower well, it Is nndesLrab , ..' to lift the hnlbs. But if there is any Calling off from former visrour and satis factory flowering, they should be liftec without hesitation as soon as the growl! lins begun to die. It is not necessary t( wait till the stems aud leaves are dry, bui as soon as they change colour cut them awny and lift the roots promptly and with care. The cause of falling off Is most likely U be exhaustion of the soil, provided the drainage is good. If the latter Is not as it should be. have it rectified before anything for the soil. Nearly every species of lily has a preference for soil largely composed of the decaying remains of vegetable matter. The more durable It is so much the better. Teat is the best because durable, of vegetable soils." but !t sHouU. uot be the dead, inert sort of wiich thi familiar ancient fuel is made, but eurfac turf from which the living vegetation mus; be cut or burned away. The peat may then be broken or chopped up with thY spade and very freely mixed with thi natural earth id the spot wliere the roott are to be planted. The roots in old-established clumps ai\ likely to be tufted and matted together U sneb. a degree as to render it almost impo» sible to disintegrate the bulbs -withorn bruising them, lv such a case it is best to resort to water, preferably that which 1& i-uuiilng;, as a tap or a ruuiiing brook Saui ration and geutle motion and pressure WU. separate the bulbs safely and more quickh than may be done by any purely meeb.aiHcal process. Sort the bulbs, tb« large from the small, and plaut them separately hi " clumjw or lines, according to taste or design; she or seveu incues a pan for the ' aaid iour or live inches for the small bmus. A. covering ol two or three inciies thick v. iresh cow manure laid over ijie spot occupied by each clump -will be a nuisb. to the operation. . ' The liliuin is one of tie most beantlfu and ornamental of flowering bulbs. Tiu aowera are large and showy. There ar. about M different species of this plan uuder cultivation as border and pot plants, but I -will only deal witli a few of the must j popular ones at present cultivated her*. They are all more or less admirably adapted for cultivation in the iniied flower borders or in shrubberies. The period at which the different varieties flower here is from about the end of September till the end ot March. Llliumsmay be increased by seed, but growing from seed is a slow proces*. Some of them, especially the lanctfolium, ' rosinm, rnbrum, and tigrinum varieties can be increased by little bulblets which form at the axlis of the leaves on the floweriug stalks. These little buiblete should be taken off just as the flower stalk is ripening off. about the beginning of April. These should, at once be planted, out in a bed iD the open consisting of light rich soil. The first year they can be put into rows about nine inches apart, and six apart in" row. Immediately they receive mofature the little bulblets wi"> begin to push out roots, which will increase as the winter advances. These roots seem to increase and gain strengeh. till about the beginning of September. This will cause tne bulblets to push np a stalk. The first season they will not flower, but will do so m che second. In the second year the bulb- • lets, or what now mig-ht be"called bulbs, should be lifted and planted in the positions in which they are to grow permanently. Here they will flower the first season after . planting, although they will not as yet be s at their full strength. The third season from the bulblet if treated kindly, they should give a fnll head of flowers. There « another method by which they enn be increased, nnd that Is lifting and dividing the old bnlbs. Every old fcnlb under favonriible circumstances should at least increase to two. if not more, every year. The best time to lift and divide such !s In May, when they are as near as possinlp at rest. Tmmefilately after lifting and dividing thryehould '•c again re-planted, as thp lonjrer they arc kept ont at the soil It will be at the ei-••■-Mise of the following season's flowers. Of nnrse. nearly, all the lillums can hn lifted •"<? ont of-the soil In a dry state for a 'ons: period, and tnen plnnted. hnt the q owpr stalks will he weakened nnd the proaji.ee, of flowers on the sptti<? Trill be 'ess in number than on plants that have been moved and- planted qulcily. The soil which the liiinni- likes best- Is n rich, moist one. The way in Trhieh I hare fronted Illimns fmyears is, every autumn while the ,

I borders at the end-of the -season to pir.ee over each cluciip of. Bulbs'a few forksfut of ■well-rotted, maunto.. Xnls jeauses toem -to come away the following spring with a very strong growth, and as tliey advance in growth they develop a larger number o! llowera than wheie they are partly starved. Another great consideration is that not un--1 less It is absolutely necessary n> I ever [ interfere or lift bulbs, letting them grow 1 year after year in the same spot, only when the clump is getting too large I reduce the number, without interfering with those which are to remain. The above -course always gives mc plenty of vigour and aJtiundariceof flowers. The reason for not interI fering with the bulbs is that I find here that they have little or no rest. Immediate'y the moist weather of winter sets in the bulbs begin to ptwh ont their fleshy roots, and these seem all winter time collecting strength for next year's flowering.