Liliaceae

“ We have half a dozen species of beautiful native [Pg 273] lilies, but like some of our most exquisite ferns they depend much for their attractiveness upon the setting their natural haunts offer, and I do not like to see them caged, as it were, within strict garden boundaries.
The red wood-lily should be met among the great brakes of a sandy wood edge, where white leafless wands of its cousin, star-grass, or colic root, wave above it, and the tall late meadow-rue and white angelica fringe the background. ”

“ The true flower-lovers, as defined above, take the trouble to find out which are{28} the Lilies that will suit their particular grounds; for it is generally understood that the soil and conditions of any one garden are not likely to suit a large number of different kinds of these delightful plants. Four or five successful kinds are about the average, and the owner is lucky if the superb White Lily is among them. ”

“ As she sat there the scent of the lilies came more strongly than ever, and now with a curious effect. It was to the girl as if the fragrance were twining and winding about her and impelling her like leashes. All at once an impulse of yielding which was really freedom came to her. Why in the world should she not cross the little north yard, step over the low hedge, and go into that lily-garden? She knew that it would be beautiful there. She looked forth into the crystalline light and the soft plumy shade,—she would go over into the Ware garden. ”

“ But before we attempt to describe the individual species, let us glance at some of the chief characteristics of the various parts of lilies.
The lily has two sets of roots. One set develops beneath the bulb, the other is given off by the flower shoot above the bulb. Each set serves a definite purpose, and both are absolutely necessary to the welfare of the plant. The lower roots are concerned chiefly with the development of the bulb; the upper roots, or those given off by the flower-shoot, are the main source of supply to the stem and flowers. ”

“ Here from the thickets, standing with their roots in the rich, loamy soil of the brookside, gleam the small orange blossoms of the little alpine lily—little only in flower, for the slender stems often rise to a height of six feet, producing several whorls of rich green leaves. These lilies are but an inch or an inch a half long, with their perianth-segments yellow or orange below and deeper orange-vermilion above, their tips only being rolled backward. ”

“ From this brief sketch of the main line of upward evolution from lilies to orchids, we must now return to the grand junction afforded us by the lilies themselves, and travel down the other line of degeneracy and degradation which leads us on to the grasses and the cereals, including at last our own familiar cultivated wheat. Any trinary flower with three calyx-pieces, three petals, six stamens, and a three celled pistil not concealed within an inclosing tube, is said to be a lily, as long as it possesses brightly colored and delicate petals. ”

“ But the sight of that glorious plant rising proudly from amidst the greenery of its forest setting will be for us more than any picture. And its being "wild" has the same fascination for us that a flower that is "wild," and not garden grown, has for a child. In a florist's shop we may see lilies even more beautiful than this, but the enjoyment we get from seeing the florist's production bears no comparison whatever with the enjoyment we get from seeing this lily in a distant Himalayan forest where not so many white men ever go. We often have experiences which perceptibly age us. ”

“ Several plants, especially with bulbous roots, which blossom abundantly in their native soils, have hitherto defied all the art of our gardeners to produce this desirable effect; yet future experience may possibly place it within our reach by some very simple means. In general, whatever checks the luxuriant production of leaf-buds, favours the formation of flowers and seeds. That variety, or perhaps species, of the Orange Lily, Lilium bulbiferum, which is most prolific in buds, seldom forms seeds, or even those organs of the flower necessary to their perfection. ”

“ And when we pass on to consider the hybrid lilies, we are likewise astonished at their paucity. Why are hybrid lilies so uncommon? Let us see if we can fathom the mystery.
One reason is that the majority of lilies never bear seed in England. Many, even in their native climes, bear seed but rarely, the natural method of increase being by bulblets. Another reason with us is the exceeding difficulty of raising lily-seed. They take so long to germinate that most seeds are destroyed before they show any sign of life. ”

“ Gardeners, taking advantage of a wild flower's natural tendency to develop petals from stamens and to become "double," are able to produce the magnificent roses and chrysanthemums of today; and so it would seem that the water lily, which may be either self-fertilized or cross-fertilized by pollen-carriers in its present state of development, is looking to a more ideal condition by increasing its attractiveness to insects as it increases the number of its petals, and by economizing pollen in transforming some of the superfluous stamens into petals. ”

“ Squibb, who assisted his friend Walter in his publication, that it was the lily figured by Catesby, we have continued the name given in honour of that Naturalist.
Of the different Lilies cultivated in this country, this is to be numbered among the least, the whole plant when in bloom being frequently little more than a foot high; in its native soil it is described as growing to the height of two feet; the stalk is terminated by one upright flower, of the form and colour represented on the plate; we have observed it to vary considerably in the breadth of its petals, in their colour, and spots. ”

“ The feathery top is now ready to act as a parachute, and invites the wind to catch up the whole and float it away. If there is no breeze, the moist air of night closes the outer scales; each of the feathery tips closes, and all are secure till the next bright day.
Of a like nature are fruits of thistles, fireweed, prickly lettuce, sow thistles, scabiosa, valerian, cat-tail flag, cotton grass, some anemones, smoke tree, virgin's bower, and some of the grasses.
27. How the lily sows its seeds.—Ripened pods of lilies usually stand straight up on a stiff, elastic stem ”

“ The flower spike must never be cut down till it has completely withered to the base. When this has occurred the entire stem can be easily removed by a slight jerk.
The life of the lily for the year is now over. What are we to do with the bulbs? Shall we leave them as they are, or shall we transplant them?
Lilies in the ground do best when left undisturbed for years. Some lilies, such as Martagons and Lilium Candidum, never do well until they have been established for a year or two. Other lilies, such as L. Longiflorum, often dwindle in a very few years. ”

“ All gardeners ask each other ‘Why do we see great healthy clumps of this lovely Lily in poor little neglected cottage gardens, while in our highly-fed and carefully-tended ones it gets the now well-known Lily disease?’ We hope your Madonna Lilies will not get it, because it is rather heart-breaking to watch its ravages. In the spring you see fine, healthy leaves, and you look forward to the tall stems that will arise from them and bear great scented, shining white flowers. But one day you notice that the leaves look rather brown. A stem has shot up, but the leaves on it look brown, too. ”

“ To grow Lilies well requires a deep, moist, rich loam. A stubborn clay may be improved for them by deep digging, and incorporating with the staple plenty of rotten manure and leaf-mould. They all thrive in peat, or rotten turf, or, indeed, in any soil containing an abundance of decomposing vegetable matter. The autumn is the proper time to plant Lilies, but they may be planted at any season, if they can be obtained in a dormant state or growing in pots. They should be planted deep for their size, say, never less than six inches. ”

“ This is one of the most beautiful species of the genus Lilium. It is rare, perhaps from the difficulty that attends its cultivation, the bulbs being extremely liable to be lost in the winter from severe frosts or damp; it is a native of China, and was introduced into this country in the year 1806. A sheltered situation, and light rich soil, mixed with bog, are necessary for it, and it is increased by off-sets, which are produced in tolerable abundance. All the species of Lilium are desirable for a flower garden. ”

“ And everywhere on the lawns, lilies lifted their stalks ready to blossom. Trees, bushes, clumps of foliage, isolated or clustered plants, seemed at first to have grown wherever their seed had fallen at random, uncared for, without any other will than nature's, without any other design than that of life itself. ”

“ We have grown it in such a soil and also in a strong, well-manured, peaty loam—a soil as different from a light sandy soil as can be well imagined. Those lilies grown in the light soil became diseased and died without flowering. Those in the heavy soil grew strong and very tall, never showed any trace of disease, and each spike produced two perfect blossoms.
The depth of the colour of the exterior of the blossoms varies with the amount of light in which the lily is grown. Specimens grown indoors usually have a pure white exterior. ”

“ Class 4.—Lilies which require a large admixture of peat and leaf mould with plenty of sharp sand: Canadense, Superbum, Pardalinum, Roezlii, Leichtlini, Philadelphicum, etc.
Class 5.—Lilies that want a very rich soil with large quantities of well rotted manure and leaf mould of great depth: Giganteum, Monodephum.
As a matter of fact many lilies will grow in two or three different kinds of soil. We have only given the form of culture by which we have ourselves obtained, or friends have obtained, the best results. ”

“ For example, the lily-flower in its wild state has reached its present condition because the mother plants and their insect attendants have worked together to produce a structure that is admirably adapted to the needs of each. It is, it seems to me, not asking too much of any one who is a disciple of evolution, even in its mildest form, to conceive that the simplest wind-fertilized flowers were the first of all floral structures to appear in the far-away geologic times. ”

“ The foliage is sometimes over a yard long, and the flower–stems attain a height of over six feet in good soil.
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Water Lily, Nymphœa and Nuphar.—Two noble North American plants well deserve naturalisation in our waters, associated with our own beautiful white and yellow water lilies—the large Nuphar advena, which thrusts its great leaves well out of the water in many parts of North America, and the sweet–scented Nymphæa odorata, which floats in crowds on many of the pine–bordered lakes and lakelets of New England, to a non–botanical observer seeming very like our own water lily. ”

“ Just as many members of the lily tribe show a preference for the rule of three in the arrangements of their floral parts, so the wild roses cling to the quinary method of some primitive ancestor, a favorite one also with the buttercup and many of its kin, the geraniums, mallows, and various others. Most of our fruit trees and bushes are near relatives of the rose. Five petals and five sepals, then, we always find on roses in a state of nature ”

“ On the left, in the picture, are masses of Poppies, Roses and White Lilies, with Alströmeria, Love-in-a-Mist, and Larkspurs, both annual and perennial; the background is of the soft, feathery foliage of Asparagus. The Roses are of all shapes; single and double; show Roses and garden Roses; standards, bushes and free-growing ramblers. On the right are more Larkspurs, Irises in seed-pod, Lavender, and some splendidly-grown Lilium szovitsianum, one of the grandest of Lilies, and, where it can be grown like this, one of the finest things that can be seen in a garden. ”

“ The islands were all luxuriant with flowers, there seemed to be acres of carnations, mixed with pansies and chrysanthemums. In the water grew a lovely “aquatic lily,” as our guide called it. I have never seen one like it. The flower was mauve and like a small rhododendron. 168 There were yellow water lilies as well, and arum lilies on the water’s edge. As we passed under a weeping willow, an irridescent humming bird flew out. I had never dreamed of seeing one outside of the Natural History Museum. ”

“ Now, in all our lily kin nectar is secreted in a groove at the base of each of the six divisions of the flower, and upon its removal by that insect best adapted to come in contact with anthers and stigma as it flies from lily to lily depends all hope of perpetuating the lovely race. For countless ages it has been the flower's business to find what best pleased the visitors on whom so much depended. Some lilies decided to woo one class of insects ”

“ They are of low growth, and the blossoms are mostly orange in colour.
This group of lilies contains many old garden favourites which, though they possess but little individual beauty, are yet pleasing in the flower bed from the brightness and size of their blossoms, and for the early period at which they flower.
There is a great sameness about the members of the group Isolirion, and as there are many garden varieties of most of the species, some of which are possibly hybrids, it is a most difficult task to separate the various species from one another.
We associate the lily with elegance. ”