This belongs to the Lily Order, but it is not a bulb. It is a herbaceous plant, with a rhizome and short, fleshy roots, rather like a bunch of brownish-white fingers. They succeed in any good garden soil, but they like one that has been well manured some weeks before planting. They should be left undisturbed three or four years, and may then be divided in autumn when the leaves have withered. When you replant, put them from twelve to eighteen inches apart. The flowers are yellow or tawny, and only last for a day, or at most two. But they succeed each other quickly for several weeks. The Greek name means ‘Beauty of a day.’ LILY OF THE VALLEY (CONVALLARIA MAJALIS). There is a popular idea that the Lily of the Valley will grow in any kind of deep shade, and so you see its poor, starved leaves struggling for life under evergreen shrubs, or the strong roots of trees that steal all its nourishment. The Lily of the Valley does like shade for the greater part of the day, but it is a plant that requires proper food. It will stand sun if you give it a deep, rich soil. The best situation for it is under a wall with a north or west aspect, or in any shady place that has good soil with some sand in it, and fresh air overhead. The bed should be made in October, and the little tuberous roots set two inches apart each way, with the point of the crown just under the soil. Work the soil well amongst and over the branching roots as you plant. In a cold climate protect the bed with bracken or dead leaves in winter, or, better still, with a covering of manure. After four years your Lilies of the Valley should have grown into a thick mat of leaves. Then in October you must dig them up, dress your bed with fresh manure, soil and sand, pull your plants apart, and set them in rows again. If you can make two beds, one in sun and one in shade, you will have a longer succession of bloom. When you gather the flowers, do not pick many leaves, and, at any rate, only one from each plant, as they nourish the crowns.