Home Gardens

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 11, 9 January 1948, Page 3

Home Gardens

(By J. W. Goodwin, N.D.H. (N.Z.), F.R.H.S., Massey Agricultural College.) ARISTOCRAT OF FLOWERS There is probably no other plant which appeals more to the enthusiastic gardener than the lily. The genus, lilium, is large, and individual gardeners become partial to one or more sections. Perhaps one may favour the auratums, another the regale or allied trumpet lilies, whilst a third may prefer the American pordalinum and its allies. It may be possible to grow most lilies in one garden, but it is almost impossible to do them all well without glasshouses and heavy expense. Far better to grow those which are happy in your soil than those which just manage to survive and never make a really good show. Master the former first, and then by adaptation of local soils and conditions build up a collection of their allies.

There is no more aristocratic plant than a well-grown lily. The grace and form, the varying colours and delightful' fragrance are hallmarks of class. There are many plants frequently referred to as lilies which do not belong to the genus lilium, and others which do not even belong to the lily family. The Scarborough lily is vallota; the Arum lily is lantedeschia; the Belladonna is amaryllis; Day lily may be hemerocallis or tigridia, to mention only a few lilies which are not liliums.

Liliums are found wild throughout the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. A few from warmer areas are not quite hardy. The bulbs themselves are hardy enough, but the young growths may be frequently cut by late frosts in the spring. Most notable among these is L. giganteum, the Himalayan lily, but even the, otherwise hardy Regale and its allies may be damaged by a sharp frost following a warm early season. Generally speaking, however, liliums are hardier than would appear by the aming of their native habitat, for high altitudes may offset the expected warmth of milder latitudes.

Some lilies are among the earliest of known cultivated flowers, going back some 4000 years. To do justice to the subject would require much more space than there is available in this column. I am most frequently asked how to go about the establishment of a lily border. Lilies occur in a very wide range of conditions in nature—some on dry mountain-sides where the snow thawing in the spring and early summer, or spring rains, provide ample moisture from above; whilst after flowering, the dry, almost barren, conditions and later, frozen snow, or dry winter conditions, protect the bulb from excess moisture. Others on the banks of streams, or on hummocks in bogs, have their bulbs well above the watertable and their long basal roots reaching down into a permanent supply of moisture. Drainage Has First Call Good drainage, than, is the first pre-requisite in the successful cultivation of liliums. Sloping ground which faces south, southeast or even east, would be ideal, as the slope gives a natural drainage and the southerly facing minimises the fierce heat of the summer sun. There are some lilies, notably L. candidum and L. testaceum, which like quite a lot of sun; and, again, the majority of gardens have comparatively level sections. A raised bed four to six inches above the surrounding ground level is probably the most suitable. Suffice it to say that the watertables should at no time rise to within three inches of the base of the deepest bulbs.

The nature of the soil will determine the width of the border. If this is very heavy, borders four or five feet wide are best. In lighter soils the border may be from eight to 12 feet wide. The nature of the soil is important, for stiff soils may become very wet in winter-time, even with good subsoil drainage. As many liliums require a fair amount of moisture during the growing season, the soil, though free and well drained, must also be able to hold moisture. Humus is the answer, and the best way to build up the humus content of the soil is to dig in considerable quantities of stack bottom, well-rooted strawy manure, spent hops or leaf mould. Peat is also very good, and particularly so in light sandy soils. The material need not be rich, as few lilies, except perhaps tigrinum, speciosum and giganteum, need rich soils. I prefer to double dig the whole border two spits deep, incorporating a really good dressing in the bottom spit in particular, as other material may be worked into the top spit as it comes to hand. Preparation of the border should take place during the summer to allow the soil to settle prior to autumn planting. (Continued in next issue)