THE REGAL AND OTHER LILIES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21982, 17 June 1933, Page 5

THE REGAL AND OTHER LILIES

It was a bright day for gardeners when the late Mr E. H. Wilson discovered Lilium regale in Western China and introduced it to England. Rarely has a new introduction achieved such immediate success. It is only about 17 years ago that the first seeds were received in England, yet already the regal lily is one of the most planted of all its kind. The reasons for this popularity are threefold. First, L. regale is outstandingly beautiful, even for a lily, with widely flaring trumpet blooms that are in the main pure white, but warmed to goldenyellow on the interior, and streaked with brown and pink outside. Secondly, there* is no lily more amenable to culture in English gardens than this, and many amateur gardeners have been able to grow this species successfully, even though they have „ failed with most other varieties. The third reason for its quick rise to fame is the ease with which it can be raised from seed. Here, again,, it leaves most other species standing, heed sown in a warm greenhouse in August or early September will germinate in a few weeks, and progress will be so rapid that most of the seedlings will produce a flower the following season. In two years they will have made good-sized bulbs ut for sale. , , Lilium regale is one of the few species that do not object to lime. It does best in a deep, loamy soil, containing plenty of humus, and to see its flowers at their fullest development it should not be allowed to go short of water during the growing season. But it is so easy to grow that there is no necessity to make elaborate preparations for it, provided the garden is in ordinarily good condiAnother easily : managed lily from China is Lilium TTenryi. This is of totally differeut character to the last-named, as it belongs to that section of the family which produces its blooms in a kind of candelabra one above the other, the individual blooms hanging from the ends of arching footstalks, produced at right angles to the main stem. The petals have a waxy texture, and are a clear orange colour, softening to green at the base, and with a few maroon spots. Like L. regale, L. Henryi is a species of the limestone ranges, and is, therefore, iflucn easier to cultivate in this country than those lilies which are lime-haters, and must be planted in a soil composed almost entirely of peat and leaf mould. It is very hardy and free flowering, and, when well established, one stem will produce as many as 20 flowers. , Yet a third easily-grown lay, and this time one of European origin, is L. testaceum, popularly known, on account of its pale apricot colour, as the Nankeen lily. Its origin is shrouded in mystery, though it is generally supposed to be a hybrid between the popular Madonna lily# L. can-

didum and L. monadelphum, a species from the Caucasus mountains. For some reason or other, L. testaceum became very scarce in gardens a few years ago, and even at the present time stocks are suffieiently short to warrant comparatively high prices being asked for the bulbs. But this must not be taken as an indication that the Nankeen lily is a capricious variety, or oue thflt is difficult. tc* propft gate, for, given suitable conditions, it is as easy to manage as the two already described. It is highly probable that the shortage of stock has been caused by too great a reliance being placed upon foreign importations which lack the constitution of home-raised bulbs. The result has been that large numbers of weakly plants have fallen a prey to lily disease and succumbed. This trouble, and, indeed, many of the difficulties experienced with certain other lilies, will be overcome when stocks are raised from seed in this country, and so become acclimatised from the outset. The two essentials for growing L. testar ceurn really well are a deep, rich soil and abundance of moisture during the growing season. Beds or borders in which it is to be planted should always be trenched at least two feet deep, and a liberal dressing of well-rotted farmyard manure, decayed vegetable matter, or any other decomposing material that will enrich the soil with

nitrogen and humus, be worked into the second spit so as to underlie the bulbs. A situation should be chosen where the roots are not likely to suffer from drought during hot weather, yet the bulbs will not become waterlogged in the winter. Actually a plentiful supply of humus in the soil will automatically solve this problem, as it acts like a sponge, storing supplies of moisture against prolonged dry spells, but allowing surplus to escape freely when the weather is wet. Lilium monadelphum, already referred to, is a rather variable but nevertheless desirable species, which should he planted in the form known as szovitzianum. This is earlier than the type flowering in December and early in January, and the blooms are of greater size and clearer colour. Incidentally, the particular shade of this lily is rather unusual, being a citron-yellow, tinged at the base of the flower with wine-red, and with a few spots that are so dark as to be almost black. This lily does not establish itself very rapidly, and is, rather expensive to buy, but it is very beautiful and not at all difficult to cultivate once it has become established. There are, of course, many other lilies suitable for garden culture, among which may be named the tiger lily in several forms, the orange lily, the umbellate lily in numerous varieties, the martagon lily

and Lilium speciosum in two or three colours, and which is about the last to flower. The auratum lily needs hardly to he mentioned, so well known is it.—A, H., in Amateur Gardening.