GROWING LILIES IN POTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 107, 7 May 1936, Page 25

GROWING LILIES IN POTS

"It is really astonishing that so few lilies, few in comparison with less showy subjects, are grown in greenhouses, especially cold houses," writes a gardening expert in a Christchurch contemporary. there is no plant more easy to grow in pots, or one that gives less trouble, and for colour and fragrance they cannot be beaten.

It is easy to imagine half a dozen pots on the stage of a cold greenhouse, the gorgeous blooms overtopping the dwarf er blossoms underneath in a very pleasing .manner and without robbing them ot light. Lilies are excellent for that reason alone. If nothing further is achieved than the potting of a few third-size bulbs in 6-inch pots it is well worth while, but first-size bulbs in 8-inch pots, carefully grown, will prove a real delight to the grower, and the number and size of the flowers will be astonishing.

"It is easier to grow lilies in pots than outdoors. ' For one thing you can provide good and effective drainage, which, the outdoor garden does not always provide, however well the digging may be attended to. Drainage, in fact, is the secret of success. The pot should be very well crocked and over the crocks some lumpy loam should be placed. The rest of the soil should be light, leafy, sandy, and gritty.

"The bulb should be planted low down in the pot, especially for the stem-rooting kinds, and the sand in which it should be placed should be coarse or large grained. Do not use fine sarid as this is apt to hold water, and become sour. You can surround the bulbs .with sarid or grit, but if the soil is made very gritty this will not be necessary.

"A great point concerning lily culture is the importance of inducing the bulbs to root quickly after being planted. Many a bulb rots away before roots come, and this is usually due to dampness. Let ithe soil be of an open character, and/keep it so; then there will be an airy moisture around the bulb that will induce quick-rooting. A little :warmth in the case of bulbs potted up now is good, but lilies, unless undergoing forcing, do not need artificial heat so long as frost is kept at a distance. Never attempt to. force lilies unless well rooted.

"Good lilies for the amateur are L. Candidum, L. Auratum, L. Regali, L. Speciosum, and vai-ieties, L. Harrisii, L. Hansoni, L. Martigon, and L. Congiflorum, the last can be induced to bloom earlier in a little heat."